Council seeks drainage solution
Peabody City Council has authorized work to be done on the "alley" between Vine and Olive streets from behind Indian Guide south to Division.
For as long as anyone can remember the alley has actually been a ditch that meanders between the homes on Olive and Vine; a ditch that once carried run-off water to city storm drains and then dried out.
In the past two years the ditch has held water almost continually, saturating back yards, and harboring mosquitoes, trash, and stagnant water.
The Baptist church at the corner of Vine and Third streets installed a sump pump to carry moisture out of its basement to the Vine Street gutter. Currently the pump runs continually and the stream of water in the gutter never dries up.
Homeowners in the area want relief from the problem.
City officials think the problem stems from capped city wells. Once the city began receiving water from the city of Hillsboro in the summer of 2002, it closed and sealed its water wells in accordance with directives from Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Since water is not being drained from the wells, council members feel it is saturating the ground around the ditch — a traditionally low area in the community.
"We have contacted the state about this problem," said city administrator Jeff Benbrook. "We were hoping to drain the wells periodically. But we can't even open a well without permission from KDHE. The decision to act on this problem will come from the state people."
Peabody is scheduled for a visit and study by a "circuit rider" from Kansas Rural Water, but Benbrook said the city doesn't know when that visit might take place.
"In the meantime council has decided to accept bids on cutting a new ditch from Indian Guide to Division," said Benbrook. "Council's thinking is that if the ditch is cleaned out and water flows unobstructed, it might help with the drainage."
Benbrook anticipates work to begin shortly.
