Sioux City resident warns fiber node in right-of-way could worsen backyard flooding

Keith Baron, a Sioux City homeowner, told the Sioux City Council on Monday that a newly installed Sparklight fiber/power junction box placed in the public right-of-way beside his Ninth Street property is obstructing storm drainage and threatens to flood his basement.

Baron raised the complaint during the council’s citizen concerns period, saying the box sits “about 4 feet 2 inches away” from a reference point near his yard and that the drainage opening at the retaining wall is “4 or 5 inches” high. He warned, “Someone’s gonna get electrocuted,” and said repeated backups have flooded the neighborhood in prior years.

The dispute centers on work Sparklight performed in the city right-of-way earlier this year. Mike Derhode, senior regional director for Sparklight, told the council his company placed the node where power was available and after engineering…