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Residents raise flooding and conflict-of-interest concerns; city staff to follow up
Summary
During citizens participation, residents raised an ongoing flooding problem tied to Greenfield Estates runoff and asked about apparent procurement ties between a council member and a city contract; staff said they will investigate and provide public records.
Several residents used the citizens participation portion of a Republic City Council meeting to raise recurring stormwater and ethics questions; staff said they will follow up with more information.
The most detailed public comment came from Don Weisz, who said runoff from the Greenfield Estates development has increased water in yards in the Rankin Acre subdivision near his home. "We're getting flooded, basically," he told the council, saying the problem began about two years after construction began and that "there's about 3 families, my house, and about 2 or 3 more that are just actually getting flooded anytime we have any amount of rain from that new subdivision." He asked whether the city could work with the county to resolve the issue.
City staff response A staff member identified as Karen Angus provided a status update: "We are currently working with the Greene County Stormwater Division on reviewing the current capacity of the detention basin in there and looking at the outflow, to try to come up with a solution to the problems the neighborhood is currently experiencing." The mayor and City Administrator said staff would follow up and that the city would look into the Greenfield Estates drainage history.
Ethics and procurement question Resident Carrie Rowe of North Pinewood asked how it was not a conflict of interest for a council member to supply services for the city and said she believed that person was the only bidder. The council responded that documentation exists and is a matter of public record. The mayor and Mr. Cameron (city administration) said the attorney and the clerk have records on file and that disclosures were made when the person ran for office; staff told Rowe they would provide the documents and would follow up.
What happened next Citizens participation then closed and the council proceeded to the consent agenda. No formal council action on either the drainage issue or the procurement/ethics question was recorded at the meeting; staff committed to investigate and report back to the resident and the council.
Ending Both issues were logged during citizens participation and referred to staff; the city indicated it will review the detention-basin capacity with Greene County and will provide procurement/ethics documentation to the resident upon request.
