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Residents press Highland Village on drainage at Scenic; city says planned projects will address problem areas
Summary
During public comment, resident Jim Elias accused past engineers of rerouting drainage and creating an unauthorized discharge onto private property; the public works director said the city is aware of localized drainage problems and has drainage projects and CIP updates intended to address erosion and misrouted flows.
At the Jan. 8 town hall, resident Jim Elias used the public-comment portion to press the city about persistent drainage and erosion in the Scenic area, describing a 2021–22 redesign that he said rerouted large volumes of water and placed a sizeable pipe discharging into a neighbor’s yard without proper easements.
"They rerouted all of the city drainage around Scenic...and they put what I call a water cannon in my neighbor's yard that is not supposed to be there," Elias said, requesting the city budget work to correct what he described as an improperly completed job.
Scott Christen responded during the presentation that the Highland Shores Boulevard program and related drainage projects include an underdrain and other efforts to stabilize subbases and capture groundwater. He said the city is developing a stormwater CIP, has ongoing drainage projects in design (including an underdrain in the Green Oaks/Twin Coves area) and will coordinate samples and monitoring at municipal entry points to Lake Louisville.
Christen explained the city's MS4 permit obligations under federal/state rules and said staff sample inflow and outfall locations to detect changes that would require follow-up with neighboring municipalities. He described typical remedies including abatement, ordinance citation and, where necessary, liens for city-funded abatement work.
Elias asked for budgeting consideration to revisit and finish the earlier Scenic work; he said he had written the city in 2023 and wanted follow-up. On the record, no specific remediation or schedule for Elias's parcel was provided.
The exchange highlighted a resident complaint about alleged mislocated drainage infrastructure and the city's broader plans to update stormwater infrastructure and monitoring; staff directed residents to CIP materials and offered continued follow-up off the record.
