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Merriam residents press council to tackle repeated power outages, ask for buried lines
Summary
Residents from a small Merriam neighborhood urged the City Council to help resolve frequent power outages—citing food spoilage, medical risks and insurance claims—and asked the city to press Evergy about tree trimming or undergrounding lines for an easement serving roughly 20–75 homes.
Scores of residents from the Maston Drive and West Vernon Place area told the Merriam City Council on Oct. 28 that repeated power outages have become a persistent safety and quality‑of‑life problem.
At the public‑comment portion of the meeting, several neighbors described months-long outages and asked the city to help identify who is responsible and what fixes are feasible, including burying the overhead lines along a utility easement. "We are constantly losing power," said Chris Carnegie of 6600 Maston Drive, and asked the council whether the city could explore putting that section of lines underground. "We'd like to see about getting our lines put underground," he said.
Jodine Coleman, speaking for her elderly mother at 6618 Maston, told the council she has repeatedly called Evergy and received little response. "I've talked to Evergy, and I can't get any response from that," Coleman said, describing instances when outages prevented medical contact and forced family members to drive in bad weather to check on a vulnerable resident. Raymond Owen and other neighbors laid out a timeline of multiple outages over the past year and estimated a triangular area of roughly 50–75 homes has been affected, some repeatedly.
Residents described direct consequences: food spoilage, repeated insurance claims and the expense of buying generators or dry ice. Rick Jaso said his neighborhood may be "too many houses on one transformer," making the area especially vulnerable when a problem occurs elsewhere on the grid.
Council members did not take formal action at the meeting but directed staff to investigate and follow up. Mayor Pape (referred to as Mayor in the meeting) told speakers, "We'll get back to you," and staff identified Community Development and the police as offices to contact on related issues such as short‑term rental parking complaints.
Why it matters: the speakers linked recurring outages to public‑safety risks for elderly residents who rely on medical equipment and described repeated financial costs for households. Neighbors asked the city to help coordinate with Evergy, investigate whether trees or a failing transformer are the cause, and explore undergrounding as a longer‑term solution.
Next steps: city staff said they would investigate responsibility for the easement, gather technical information and follow up with the residents. No council motion or vote was recorded on undergrounding or related utilities work at this meeting.
