Ward 2 Alderman Dr. Jack Varner said he was met with arrogance from a street department employee after he demanded answers about a brick-filled, eroding portion of Belle Aire Circle.
The area of the street has had a drainage problem for years. But now the area is beginning to erode with water undermining the roadway, Varner said.
During Monday’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, Varner distributed photographs of the problem. He said the street department has failed to correct the problem and refuses to look for long-term solutions.
“Instead of seeking help from the board or the city engineer, they chose to just dump bricks in the street,” Varner said.
Varner said he met with Public Works Director Walter Williams and Street Superintendent Robert Lewis at the site of the problem. But he said the meeting did not go well.
“Lewis just got real smart with me,” Varner admits. “He said he had no idea how to fix it and was not going to fix it. I asked him had he come to the board with anything, and he was arrogant as hell about it. He got on me pretty heavy. I resent it, and I always will.”
Varner said Williams or Lewis should have approached the city council when they discovered they didn’t know how to fix the problem. He said dumping bricks and ignoring the problem is not the solution.
“That is one mess,” Varner said. “When a person gets beyond his knowledge, he needs to come to the board or go to the engineer to get the information needed to do something.”
No one representing Public Works was present at the meeting.
Building Inspector Russ Carter said he has received several complaints from residents in the area.
“They couldn’t get any action from the street department,” Carter said. “They called down there (the city barn), couldn’t get any answers. Nobody would return their calls. So, they started calling me.”
Mayor Diane Delaware said she has also visited Belle Aire Circle and even approached Williams about the matter.
“I was told by the individual I should respect what he is doing, and that it wasn’t my business,” she said.
Varner said that area is also being ignored when it comes to the street department cleaning the gutters.
“There is an old gum tree there that drops little balls in the fall,” he said. “They are still in the gutter. That street hasn’t been cleaned since Billy was a calf.”
In another area of Ward 2, Varner said there is more drainage issues that have led to three inches of water into the street. Water is not properly being drained near the Graball Road and Fifteenth Street.
“Water wasn’t properly draining, and it just ran off the streets,” Varner said. “So, it created this hole. (The street department) dumped wasted cement, washout, on the streets. Now the water comes down the street and can’t get into the drain. It goes across the street, jumps the ditch and goes under a man’s house.”
Varner said these solutions are no acceptable.
“These are just two incidents in my ward,” he said. “If we are doing that all over town, (we) are better than this. Why do we sit here, don’t reprimand and don’t get the job done…”
Delaware added that advice has been given to the street department about particular issues. But that advice is never taken.
“But none of this will stop,” she continued.
