Residents welcome drainage plan

West LR work among $1 million on city manager’s to-do list

 Dr. Dileep Vyas walks down the walkway in front of his west Little Rock home Saturday morning as standing water fills part of his yard from rain earlier in the week. The city has proposed drainage improvements for the neighborhood where Vyas lives.
Dr. Dileep Vyas walks down the walkway in front of his west Little Rock home Saturday morning as standing water fills part of his yard from rain earlier in the week. The city has proposed drainage improvements for the neighborhood where Vyas lives.

— When it rains, Dileep Vyas said, the front yard of his home on Summerdale Lane in west Little Rock floods and stays that way for at least a week.

On Wednesday afternoon, after a light rain, there was standing water in his front yard but not the rushing stream that Vyas said sometimes flows through. When told that Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore is proposing $20,000 in drainage improvements for his street, Vyas replied matter-of-factly: “Yeah, that would be right there in front of my house.”

The improvements on Summerdale Lane would be among about $1 million in work the city does this year if approved by the Board of Directors.

Moore presented his plan to the board last week, and discussion is expected to continue Tuesday.

On the list are the following projects:

Ward 1 - 13th and Gaines streets ($90,000); Allis Street ($100,000); Wright Avenue ($30,000).

Ward 2 - Windamere Drive ($80,000) and Walpole Drive ($50,000).

Ward 3 - BeechwoodStreet ($200,000).

Ward 4 - Summerdale Lane and Hinson Road ($130,000).

Ward 5 - Westchester Drive ($30,000) and Chevaux Circle ($80,000).

Ward 6 - Sunnymeade Drive ($50,000) and 44th and Potter streets ($75,000).

Ward 7 - Chicot Road ($80,000) and Angel Lane ($20,000).

Dennis and Molly Wewers, who live across Summerdale Lane from Vyas, said the yard of their Piedmont Lane home also floods at times.

“The last time there was a heavy rain, it washed two garbage cans down here,” Molly Wewers said. “One lodged in the sewer drain, and one got stuck under our bridge. My husband had a heck of a time getting it out.”

Vyas said one of his friends fell trying to get past the water in front of his home as he came to visit.

“He fell forward on his arms,” Vyas said. “He was all bruised up. It was awful.”

In Ward 5, Pat Studer said his home and two others have flooded after heavy rain.

“The problem is that you have three 36-inch pipes emptying into [a pond] thathas one 48-inch pipe that goes out,” Studer said. “An elementary-school student can tell you that doesn’t work.”

Studer said the city has said the plan is to lower an alleyway so the water will flow out into the streets rather than into their homes.

The $1 million in drainage improvements is part of a plan that would see $6.5 million in public works projects completed this year using revenue generated by the September sales-tax increase. The moneybegins to hit the city’s books in March.

Voters approved increasing the city’s tax rate from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent. Threeeighths percent of the tax goes toward capital improvements and five-eighths to operations. People now pay 8.5 percent in sales taxes in Little Rock, which includes a 1 percent county tax and a 6 percent state tax.

City directors are already moving forward with one project: an $8.7 million emergency communications system to replace a nearly 30-year-old radio system.

In December, Little Rock city directors passed a $158.6million operating budget that included 57 new jobs ranging from a full-time veterinarian for the Little Rock Zoo to 15 maintenance workers for the parks department. Along with the new hires, the budget includes filling 102 vacant positions, including 32 police officer positions and eight codeenforcement positions.

City directors are to take up the issue again Tuesday as Moore is expected to present more details about the proposed improvements and the methodology used for prioritizing the projects. The board meets at 4 p.m. in City Hall at 500 W. Markham.

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 01/29/2012

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