A reported drainage problem on Cherry Street in Argos was recently brought to the attention of officials when Town Council members met last Wednesday.
Councilman Shawn Harley said he came across a post on social media that was addressing the lack of drainage on Cherry Street following recent rainfall.
He said after witnessing the public outcry online, he went to take pictures of the flooded roadway and Councilwoman Suzanne Umbaugh said she did as well.
Harley said he contacted the impacted resident to gather some additional information about the problem.
Harely explained, “She relayed to me she was very pleased that I reached out to her. She said it’s been an ongoing problem down there, they’re getting tired of it, they feel like the Town doesn’t care about them over on that side of town. I assured her that’s not the truth, that some of us weren’t even aware that this was happening.”
He noted that he spoke with another resident who shared the same concerns. Harley said he learned that that more than one citizen regularly has water getting into their garage when it rains.
He asked the Town Superintendent if he had any recommendations about how to address the problem.
Town Superintendent Jamie Lindstrom explained that on that side of the railroad tracks, there are dry wells so there is no existing drainage system.
He noted that he would be wary of attempting to tie that road into the existing system because it wouldn’t be able to handle any additional water. However, he did present a potential solution to deal with their concerns for the time being.
Lindstrom explained, “What we did in Westview Court when it rained like that, we’d go and pump the water out. Now that we know that we can keep an eye on it and if that’s what we have to do, we will.”
Lindstrom added that no one has reported this Cherry Street drainage problem to him in the past but said he would look into and to see if there was any way he could address the issue.
