Stormwater in Cape

The storm-water on our street runs to what USED TO BE a 4-foot wide and 4-foot deep ditch and then on to a retention basin as designed.

A builder decided to lay a 2-foot pipe in the ditch and cover it over, which drastically restricted the amount of water that USED TO flow through. Since that time, the water, which USED TO flow freely to the retention basin, doesn't flow so freely any more. As a result, we have had many times when water in our street was over 24 inches deep and once it got up to 46 inches.

My point to the city has been this: A developer is forced to develop according to code. An engineer draws plans with those codes in mind. The city reviews the plans and once accepted, development can begin. In our case, all was completed as designed and all worked as designed ... until it was altered.

A portion of the city's development code addresses post-development alterations. One such code states: "The applicant shall not alter any channel in such a way that would prohibit any section of the channel from conveying, in its post-development state, the same amount of flow that it conveyed in its predevelopment state."

In my opinion, it has been counterproductive for the city to not enforce THESE codes as they do others. It has put its citizens at a disadvantage unnecessarily. I'm glad to know they are taking a fresh look at the issue.

Mike Jones, Cape Girardeau