Residents raise safety, flooding and driveway concerns over neighborhood street project

Several residents of neighborhoods around Bacon Avenue and Seventh Street told the Inver Grove Heights City Council on July 18 that a multi-block road and utility reconstruction project has caused repeated property damage, safety hazards and communication failures.

The council heard similar accounts from multiple speakers during the public-comment period. “That temporary water was shooting into my basement,” resident Bernie Swafford said, saying the flow had been ongoing since May 5 and that she was advised by project staff to contact her homeowner insurance. “Filing a claim…causes affects your insurance history and your premiums and your selling capability,” she said.

The complaints included reports that driveways and road edges were being replaced without rebar, contrary to contractors’ statements about durability; driveways not being restored to their prior condition; project delays (residents said a six-week schedule had extended to…