Storm drainage tops discussion at final strategic planning meeting

One neighborhood’s storm-drainage issues topped the discussion Thursday at the Cape Girardeau City Council’s sixth and final strategic-planning meeting.

City officials held the meetings to solicit public input as they look to revise a five-year-old strategic plan.

More than a dozen people attended the Ward 6 meeting at the Lutheran Home.

A number of residents of Copperfield Court near Benton Hill Road voiced unhappiness over storm drainage problems.

Mike Jones said several property owners filled in their lots, which has led to more runoff.

“The city has every right to tell property owners to put it back the way it was,” he told city staff.

After the meeting, Jones said stormwater flooding has covered his street with several feet of water at times.

Fellow resident Marty Vied said storm runoff has dumped mud on the street.

“We have water coming up through the streets,” he said. “We are in a bowl down there.”

Deputy city manager Molly Hood said, “I know you are all very frustrated with the situation.” She said the city staff has been working to address it.

She said city government currently reviews overall grading plans for a subdivision but not the grading of individual lots.

Ward 6 Councilman Wayne Bowen said, “We still have loopholes.” Bowen told residents addressing development issues can be “frustratingly slow.”

Bowen said the city council and city staff are focused on addressing a number of drainage issues throughout the community, including the fact some stormwater detention basins are privately owned but not maintained.

“They are congested with vegetation,” he added.

Diane O’Connell said the Copperfield neighborhood does not have streetlights.

“It is so dark,” she said, adding, “It is not a safe environment.”

Hood said the city is replacing existing streetlights with more energy-efficient LED lights. The city government also plans to look at adding streetlights to neighborhoods where there are none, she said.

Bowen said city officials need to strengthen the city’s development code.

Hood said it is important to have strong development regulations while not hampering development.

“What we don’t want to have happen is push all the development away from Cape. So we have to have the right balance,” she said.

Jerry Wieser, who lives on Beaver Creek Drive, said concrete streets are crumbling. Temporary asphalt repairs are not the answer, he told city officials.

“We now have patches on top of patches,” he said.

Wieser suggested the city should put down asphalt streets, arguing they are easier to resurface and maintain. Concrete streets, he said, are “guaranteed to crack.”

But Hood said asphalt streets require maintenance, too.

Wieser said his neighborhood lacks sidewalks.

“You walk your dog in the street,” he said.

Ward 6 resident Paul Giebler said, “It just seems government gets in the way of solutions.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

The Lutheran Home, Cape Girardeau, Mo.