Homeowners urge Keene to investigate retaining wall they say is flooding yards

Several homeowners told the Keene City Council on July 2 that a retaining wall near the Spring Creek subdivision has caused ongoing erosion, silt and water to wash into backyards and into one resident's house.

Owen Larson (speaker 7) said he submitted a petition in February and has since filed open-records requests. "There's two rough sets of plans between the old development and the new development... there's no real plan for a wall," Larson said, adding that he expected to bring documents back to the council. He said homeowners who bought lots later were not the builders and that the wall predated many property owners.

Another resident, Eddie Arano (speaker 9), described rotting wood and mud encroaching on his yard and said he paid out of pocket for a French drain after the city did not act. "The only thing that's holding that wall up from falling into my yard is my fence," Arano said. He asked for the city's assistance locating responsibility and repairing damage.

Why it matters: If a retaining wall was constructed without required engineering or plat documents and has contributed to property damage, liability and remediation responsibilities may be unclear to homeowners and the city.

Council members asked clarifying questions about who built the wall and whether developers or homeowners had responsibility; staff acknowledged gaps in older records and said some files were lost in a computer crash and a cyberattack that complicated recovery. The mayor and staff said they would follow up and that the matter had been placed on the agenda earlier.

Next steps: Larson said he expected to obtain and present additional records; staff apologized for earlier confusion about agenda placement and said they would re-examine records and report back to council.