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Guymon residents urge city to clear easement growth, fix recurring street flooding and trim hazardous trees
Summary
Two residents used the public-comment period to ask the Guymon City Council to address overgrown vegetation in a city easement that is damaging a private fence, recurring street flooding on South Pratt Avenue and an overhanging tree on Morgan Street that blocks traffic when two vehicles meet.
Marilyn Bishop, a Guymon resident, told the City Council during public comment that a city easement north of her house has been maintained by her family since 1985 but is now overgrown with seedlings from a “paradise tree” that repeatedly returns and has damaged concrete and a fence.
“I have an easement on the front of my house… to the north of me, there is a city easement … that my husband and I have been taking care of since 1985,” Marilyn Bishop said. She said chemical spraying has been the only effective control and that the family paid $1,700 to repair a fence after roots broke concrete and damaged the fence’s foundation.
Victoria Pisa, who identified herself as a resident of 105 South Pratt Avenue, told the council repeated street flooding is damaging vehicles and that city crews’ temporary fixes leave piles of dirt that re-clog drains. Pisa also asked that a large tree on Morgan Street be trimmed because low-hanging branches make it impossible for two vehicles to pass without scraping.
“These piles of mud go back into the drain and it clogs it again,” Pisa said, adding she has had water inside her vehicle on multiple occasions after storms.
The two comments were delivered during the public-comment period; no formal council action was taken during that meeting to address the specific requests. Council members thanked the speakers for raising the issues and said staff would follow up. Councilmember Shannon specifically commended the residents for using the public-comment period to bring problems to the city’s attention.
The remarks included three specific requests: city maintenance or removal of volunteer-maintained vegetation in the easement that Bishop said is causing property damage; permanent fixes to the drain on South Pratt Avenue to prevent recurring flood and mud buildup; and trimming or removal of the low-hanging tree on Morgan Street.
City staff or council members did not provide an immediate timeline or a funding commitment during the meeting. Bishop said she cannot continue to maintain the easement because of arthritis and a change in household circumstances; she described the invasive seedlings as requiring chemical treatment rather than manual removal.
Residents who raised neighborhood infrastructure problems during public comment asked for a staff follow-up; council members said they would direct staff to review the sites and report back at a future meeting.
