Resident urges city to stop stormwater pipe from draining onto private yard

A Grain Valley resident asked the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday night to stop a city stormwater pipe from discharging onto her property and to evaluate connecting the street drain to a nearby collection box. The resident, who identified her address as 1294 Northwest Folks Drive, told aldermen she has recorded flooding at her home dating to February 2016 and said the public storm pipe now dumps water and rock into her backyard, across her driveway and into the cul-de-sac. She said crews had come out that day to remove rock but that the city’s work has repeatedly left standing water, mosquitoes and damage she worries will hurt her home’s resale value. The resident urged officials to “look at what it would cost to connect that drain pipe that is dumping onto private property,” saying a city engineer previously told her such a connection would cost $3,000 and that the city has instead spent what she estimated to be about $8,000 on repeated cleanups. Mayor (presiding) acknowledged the complaint and invited staff to respond. Patrick, a city staff member who spoke about past work, said the city has performed maintenance on the existing drainage infrastructure since the 2016 incident but that “no differences have been done from design. All we've did over the past approximately 6 years now is maintenance on existing.” City staff noted the parcel that contains the detention box was platted as detention and is not a buildable lot and that, when wet, water around the storm box is to be expected. Staff said the city had previously performed a project after the 2016 event and described ongoing maintenance of the detention features rather than a redesign. No formal motion or directive to redesign the storm system was made during the meeting. The aldermen and staff agreed to review the resident’s materials and photos and to follow up with possible next steps. The resident also reported speaking with her insurer; she said quoted figures included flood insurance premiums “over $680,” a structural deductible of $1,250 and a separate personal-property deductible of about $1,000. The matter was discussed during the public-comment portion of the meeting; aldermen indicated staff would look into the complaint further.