The Shifley-York Neighborhood Alliance is just one of many community groups thinking about ways to use some of the $13.3 million in ARPA funding that the city is receiving. Shifley-York residents hope a portion of the money would go to solving the drainage issue that is leaving several houses and parks full of rainwater.
Reggie Helm, chair of the alliance, said that the problem is concentrated around West Griffith Avenue, West Bittel Road, and Elm Street. Helm said the problem comes from drainage pipes that were installed many years prior that are about six inches around.
Added to the damage that it does to the residents’ homes, Helm said that rainwater will often linger in the parks for days on end.
The alliance brought the problem to the city commissioner work session, detailing how long they’ve been waiting for the project to begin.
“We’re talking 30 years of waiting,” Helm said. “A lot of people are frustrated that it’s all about tourism and not about the folks in the neighborhood — and not just our neighborhood — but I’m talking to the other neighborhood alliances. [There] are a lot of people in the neighborhoods just getting frustrated that everything’s downtown or Hwy 54, and we all feel like we’ve been forgotten.”
Helm said he was able to meet with Commissioners Mark Castlen and Bob Glenn to discuss the situation. City Manager Nate Pagan had a city engineer look at the situation and it was determined that it would be about $2.5 million to repair the system, according to Helm.
Helm said the county will have to step in as well since the issue partially goes beyond city limits.
With the flooding often comes a large amount of trash that will be left behind, and Helm recommends that in addition the city should get more street sweepers to decrease the amount of trash throughout the neighborhoods.
He said as of right now, the sweepers now are doing a good job cleaning downtown and Griffith Avenue but other neighborhoods are in need of cleaning.
