Shifley-York residents appeared before City Commissioners Tuesday asking for the city to fix drainage and flooding issues in their neighborhood. Residents said the water gets so high at times they aren’t able to drive home or leave their homes to go to work.
Matthew Monsour, professor at Owensboro Community & Technical College, said he and his neighbors have seen the city work on flooding in different neighborhoods throughout the years, and the Shifley-York community has been waiting for their turn.
“What it’s like to live in our neighborhood: Waking up to four inches of water in your garage; I can’t store anything on my floor, it might get ruined,” Monsour said.
Monsour said that the water is high enough that he has had to cancel his own classes because he could not get out of the house to get to campus. He also spent more than $10,000 in drainage work on his property which has had “very little effect.”
City Manager Nate Pagan said that the issue has been brought to the city’s attention prior, as he had conversations with City Engineer Kevin Collignon a few weeks ago on how to fix the area.
In other business, commissioners proclaimed July 21-24 as Dust Bowl Week in honor of the 48th annual Tournament. As the proclamation reads, “it is important for events like the annual Dust Bowl to thrive.”
Dust Bowl President Byron Owen accepted the award and said there have been a few updates to the tournament this year. For the first time, they will be utilizing both courts during play and hold seven games each day of the tournament.
As the floor opened for comments from the commissioners, Bob Glenn urged the city to protect themselves from COVID-19.
“Our numbers are on the brink of the red zone. I can’t emphasize enough — we all like the momentum and movement we’ve had moving out of COVID — we’ve got to continue to do the things that help us address that,” Glenn said.
He said if that means looking into getting a vaccine or wearing a mask, people should do what needs to be done to keep themselves safe.
Mayor Tom Watson said he and other officials will be doing a Zoom call to discuss the Delta variant, with anyone able to tune in to the broadcast.
Mayor Pro-Temp Larry Maglinger said that he heard positive reviews on the ice rink last Friday and said that could be something the city looks into for the future and the winter.
Commissioners also appointed Tami Wilson to a vacant position on the City Utility Commission, and Deb Hizny and Loretta Schell to the Apollo Area Neighborhood Alliance. They recognized the retirement of Terri Luellen from the Sanitation Department.
With Pagan’s approval, the commission appointed Nathan Mewes to a position in the Facilities Maintenance Building Department, Luke Cecil to Fire Lieutenant with the Fire Department, and Buster Davidson to Fire Captain within the Fire Department.
