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Neighbors frustrated with 'makeshift' water line

Posted at 6:55 PM, Sep 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-16 19:55:23-04

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — Several neighbors who live near Shirewood Road and Pershing Road in Excelsior Springs are frustrated with the city for the way it put in a temporary water line last week.

The makeshift water line crossed Shirewood Road and was originally covered with wooden boards to prevent cars from damaging the line.

Nearby neighbor Mary Doakes said several people on the dead-end road were concerned with the screws sticking out of the boards after a few days.

Doakes has lived at her home on Shirewood Road for about 20 years. She said the homes along the road have a long history of sewer and water line problems.

"This isn't a new issue here, and I think that's why so many people are frustrated," Doakes said.

Carrie Giesbrecht lives a few houses down.

She spotted the exposed line with screws sticking out last Wednesday.

She worries the screws would be a danger if two cars were passing each other on the narrow road and one had to swerve, it would likely hit them.

Giesbrecht said a neighbor covered the exposed screws up with traffic cones, but she can't help but wonder why the city didn't cover the water line a different way.

"With concerts and such, there's rubber matting that could have been used to cover that hose," Giesbrecht said.

41 Action News reached out Public Works Director Chad Birdsong who said crews had been having issues with an old, leaky water line along the road for years. They needed to put a new one in, but it took longer than expected for several parts to come in.

"We're going to change our practices so crews don't do that again, it was just temporary at first it was just going to be a day or two and then parts didn't come in," Birdsong said.

Birdsong said he understands neighbors' concerns.

I can see their frustration with that if they drive by and see screws sticking out of the boards," Birdsong said.

There are only a handful of homes along both roads. Birdsong said crews would not have done a similar temporary fix along a major road with a lot of traffic.

Another neighbor, Mel Wilcher, appreciates the city getting out to the area to put a new water line in.

"I think they're moving along as fast as they can," Wilcher said. "They're doing a good job as far as I'm concerned."

He didn't feel the screws sticking out were a very big concern, as other neighbors did.

"They were at the ends. You could easily miss them, you knew they were there and you just try not to run over them," Wilcher said.

Crews were working out at the area Monday afternoon.

Birdsong said they should have the new water line underground by the end of the day, but work will continue in the area for several days.

Doakes and Giesbrecht said they both wish the city would have been more transparent about what was being done.

"We need to be aware of why it's there and how long it's going to be there. We don't get any of that communication," Giesbrecht said.

"Maybe a note on our door telling us what's happening, things along those lines," Doakes said.