Flood Thy Neighbor

“And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, ………And God saw that it was good,” unless you happen to live adjacent to a church parking lot. This spring, our community has been abundantly blessed with rain from the heavens. In June alone, we had 8.5 inches total with almost 3 inches coming in a single day. Three inches may not seem like a lot of water but when it falls on 3 acres of pavement, roofs, and adjacent saturated ground, it amounts to a quarter of a million gallons of water. This amount of water falling on poorly designed and maintained parking lots has put millions of gallons of water “gathered together into one place” resulting in tens of thousands of dollars of damage to neighborhood properties. Unfortunately, the restoration of that damage comes out of the pocket of neighbors, not from churches nor from City Hall who approved the permits for all that asphalt. Ironically, City Hall is asking us to vote to extend the Sales Tax for storm water control in our community. All this rain reminds us that storm water management is very important. But if this sales tax is extended, will investments be made in and around the Truman Neighborhood to correct past oversights? Or will City Hall concentrate on their investment in the flood plain? Please consider voting in favor of the sales tax to give City Hall the tools to correct the problems created by the last generation of community planners. But before you vote “Yes,” make sure city officials are aware of storm water problems on your block and tell them Old Town Independence is important, also.