Six days later, there is still standing water on Evora Street, my former-student’s yard is still mucky, and there is more rain coming.
The good news? Help IS also coming.
The not-so-good news? The help will take time and money.
Awhile back, the city got a $500,000 FEMA grant to study the downtown area and its stormwater drainage problems. The study is almost ready to present, and will show what we all know: downtown has a drainage problem. The study will also detail what needs to be done and where.
Those answers may not make anyone happy, but should offer some hope to downtown.
Here’s the back story:
For about four decades, there was no real permitting process, no actual inspections. That’s why so many roads everywhere in the city are crumbling and why so there is so much to do to repair the decades of disrepair downtown.
There is a perception that the current council isn’t doing anything to correct these problems, but that’s simply not true.
They’re doing it as the science and as the budget allows.
Some streets, like Evora, don’t have any drainage to speak of. There is nowhere for the water to go because the street wasn’t graded properly. The water just stands there until it evaporates.
Drainage paths between homes haven’t been maintained, and many have had fences and buildings built on top of them—leftovers from a time when the city was just puttering along without any real oversight.
Fixing the drainage problems permanently, correctly, and within budget, will require downtown residents to be patient and to make some hard decisions. Equipment needs space to maneuver and the water needs to be able to flow—two things that can’t happen without some serious changes to the landscape in some downtown areas.
When the report is presented, the projects discussed, and the priorities established, downtown residents will need to listen, and they’ll need to recognize that long-term problems don’t have short term solutions.
In the meantime, residents on streets like Evora, may need to add some thirsty plants to their yards to help drink up that standing water. They may also need to contact the public works office and ask for EOM’s vacuum truck to pay their street a visit.
And if you call to ask about that vacuum truck, please be nice to the person at the other end of the phone. Kindness matters, and good manners go a long way.
PS— If you like what I have to say, please consider donating to my campaign fund. I am running an independent, nonpartisan campaign, and am not taking money from major parties or corporations. Thank you!
