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Neighbors band together to resolve drainage issues
By Taylor Messick
Last Updated: September 07, 2017

Todd Wyatt has been a resident of Kechi's Shawnee Circle for about five years. His neighbor directly to the east is Cheryl Hobson. Hobson and her wife, Terri Fowler, have been residents of Shawnee Circle for a year and a half.

It's a beautiful neighborhood in the cozy, little town of Kechi. But recently, the rains have left these residents a nervous wreck. Directly behind their backyards to the north sits a field. The field is used to grow corn and soybeans, which requires a great deal of water.

Normal runoff from the field isn't a problem; but coupled with heavy rain, it makes for a nightmare. Moisture from the field is designed to drain into a floodway reserve ditch that runs directly between Wyatt's and Hobson's properties. The floodway reserve is supposed to flow under (and over) the street in front of their houses and continue south all the way through the neighborhood. Instead, the water has recently backed up at the culverts built underneath Shawnee Circle that are supposed to allow it to pass through. This has led to flooding all the way up to the foundations of Wyatt's and Hobson's houses.

“That has happened three or four times since we moved in," said Hobson. “That's too frequent; it's just not an acceptable situation."

Wyatt said that the issue has gotten worse since he moved into the neighborhood. He said he thinks the massive amounts of silt filling up the floodway have likely played a part in its lack of flow.

“They had smoothed it out really good at first," said Wyatt. “About three years in, I noticed it starting to get worse. We couldn't get anything to seed in it because it would just wash away too quick. Now the city still says it's flowing as designed, but I don't know how they can say that because you can see that it's not flowing. It's silted in."

They believe heavy silting on the south side of the culverts that are built into Shawnee Circle is one factor. Another problem seems to be a lack of accountability for floodway reserve maintenance. In 1991, a document was signed stating that these residents were responsible for maintaining their own floodway easements unless the city chooses to take on the responsibility.

The floodway has not been properly maintained. At one point, water flowed all the way through. Now, there's a portion in the middle that spans three or four properties on each side that allows very little water to flow through. Hobson thinks the lack of knowledge about how to maintain the floodway is a big issue.

“To be really honest our neighbors over here have no idea," said Hobson. “They're just like us. They don't know how to take care of a floodway. All we thought we had to do was mow it. They didn't even know they were supposed to be taking care of it and we didn't either."

The city has made it clear to these residents that this is not its responsibility. That hasn't stopped the residents from asking for help or advice, but they say they were even denied that.

“They wouldn't even put us in contact with anybody who could help us," said Fowler. “They said, ‘No, we're not going to give you anything.' I felt like the council and mayor wanted to help but it got shut down. Because they didn't want to set a precedent and have to help someone else."

Wyatt, Hobson and Fowler said that they completely understand the city's position, even if it isn't necessarily to their favor.

“We understand that there are liabilities to watch out for," said Fowler. “In turn, that watches out for us as a city; but there has to be some kind of balance."

Although they were hoping for more help, the neighbors accepted the city's position on the matter and decided to take a DIY approach. They got together, rolled up their sleeves and rented a Bobcat. They decided the best thing to do was to clear the silt on the south side of the culverts. However, in order to clear a path for the water to flow all the way through, they'd need permission from all six or seven property owners along the way. They said the first few neighbors were friendly and kind.

However, while some neighbors were sympathetic to their situation, others weren't. They said they were even visited by a particularly angry neighbor who works for the city and threatened legal action.

“You've got six or seven neighbors back there that all have to agree," said Wyatt. “That'll probably never happen. It doesn't affect them. Every once in awhile it gets wet and they have to mow, but that's it. We never meant for this to pit neighbors against each other. We thought they could see what we were dealing with and they might understand."

Now, they're hoping the little amount of silt they cleared from the south side of the culverts will make a difference. Otherwise, they aren't left with many other options. If their houses are flooded and properties destroyed because of a lack of cooperation from neighbors, they'll have no choice but to take legal action.

“That's really sad and that's the last thing we want," said Fowler. “But if it comes to that point we won't have a choice. I'm really just hoping that removing the silt we were allowed to remove fixed our problem. It'll take a big rain before we find out."

Hobson and Wyatt said if nothing else, they've enjoyed getting to know each other more through the ordeal. They said working together has helped them become good friends.

“It's been great getting to know Todd more," said Hobson. “He's such a cool guy and he's been really helpful. We've actually become good friends with him. The last thing I thought would happen from this is that I'd get to know my neighbor better. You don't always expect something positive to come from a negative situation."





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