Sioux City residents press council to inspect erosion and underground voids on Glen Ellen Road

Residents of the Whispering Creek neighborhood told the Sioux City Council during the meeting that progressive erosion and underground voids along Glen Ellen Road are undermining sidewalks, yards and the street and creating a safety risk.

Homeowner John Aldroyd told the council the problem affects multiple properties: “Water's running down the hill underneath Glen Ellen Road, it's undermining sidewalks, it's undermining the street, it's undermining homeowners properties, and it's causing multiple issues for homeowners.” He said he has paid more than $10,000 for flowjacking repairs and is facing an estimated $12,000 to install drainage ditches on his property.

Another resident, Jerry Van Persen, described deeper voids in front of his house: “The void now extended at least 12 feet in length under my sidewalk, 6 feet deep,” and later told the council the undermining had progressed under the street “in some areas more than 8 feet deep and 18 feet long and more than 8 feet wide.”

City engineer Gordon Fair and other staff told the council the city has performed studies and repeated maintenance fills. Fair said prior technical reports did not identify a single cause: “Both virtually said the same thing. It's multiple, you know, bad compaction, you got lost soils, you got sprinklers…once they start opening a hole and water gets into it, it's hard to stop.” The city also hired ground-penetrating radar last fall to look for voids, staff said.

Council members and staff described interim repairs the city has performed — crews have been filling voids and sealing concrete — and said crews will continue that work while pursuing further investigation. During discussion a council member who identified themself as mayor said, “Maybe it's time to cut that street open and get a panel out.” City staff responded, “We can do that,” indicating the city will remove a panel to inspect the voids.

Residents asked the city to assign an engineer to complete a root-cause analysis and to coordinate with utilities; one resident requested a response from the city within two weeks and said he would provide photos. City staff said they have checked for storm-sewer leaks and have identified at least one underground utility issue that required repair, and that maintenance will continue to monitor and fill voids as needed.

No formal vote or ordinance resulted from the public comments; the council’s discussion produced a direction to staff to perform more intrusive inspection (cut panels to view voids) and to continue coordination with utilities and maintenance crews.

The council meeting record shows multiple past studies and repeated maintenance work in the Whispering Creek area but no single permanent remedy adopted during the session. Residents pressed for a holistic, city-led plan involving homeowners and utility companies to identify and fix the root causes rather than continuing recurring “band-aid” fills.