Jefferson City is dealing with a serious issue below the surface.
Aging pipes are failing. Also, as the city lacks funds to fix the issues early, they are slowly creeping to the surface.
Across Jefferson City, areas are blocked off by orange fencing or tape.
Maybe a barricade. Maybe not.
The Jefferson City Public Works Department has a running list of the failing stormwater infrastructure it knows about but can't necessarily afford to fix. Currently, it has 58 projects listed with a total of more than $15 million in cost estimates, but it continues to grow as staff find more problem areas within the city.
"The need far outweighs the money," said Public Works Director Matt Morasch. "We have such little money and a big need. We've got $15 million in need."
Funding for stormwater infrastructure primarily comes from the city's half-cent capital improvement sales tax, which is up for renewal on the Aug. 2 ballot. In the current five-year installment, stormwater received $2 million over the five-year period. If the tax is renewed for another five years, stormwater is budgeted to receive $1.8 million over the next five-year period.
The only other funding for stormwater is a minor amount that comes from the street maintenance budget and is primarily used on projects in coordination with the annual overlay program to help ensure a new overlay doesn't have to be torn up because of a stormwater issue later.
Morasch said the project list kept by staff is ranked by priority, but because the funding is so limited for that area, they may only get to the top few projects in a five-year period.
"It's become kind of a matter of fact for us," Morasch said of dealing with a long list of issues and very little money to spend on solutions. "We're just used to dealing with that situation."
The lack of funds also means a project likely won't get attention until it's too big to ignore. Morasch said city staff essentially have to put Band-Aids on things until they become big enough problems where it can no longer be ignored or patched.
The Forest Hill stormwater system is one of those problems.
It's one of the top three projects on the staff's working list, and it's where the Gladbachs and Barnetts have lived for decades.
Denis and Pat Gladbach have lived on Forest Drive since the early 1970s, as have their neighbors, Don Barnett and his wife. Their street can only be accessed from Forest Hill Avenue through a single entrance and exit point. Last year, they noticed the road started to crumble near the intersection of Forest Drive and Forest Hill Avenue.
"Last July, I called this in," Denis Gladbach said, pointing to the section of the street that has two large holes and evidence of further crumbling in the road. The portion is now blocked off, with orange fencing immediately around the affected road and two road blocks around that. "People were just driving around it."
The entrance to Forest Drive is split in two, with a grassy median between the two lanes. With the road clearly crumbling in one, residents can only use the other drive to get in and out, but they're concerned they'll soon be trapped if it isn't fixed quickly.
"The sinkhole appeared after the rains last summer," Pat Gladbach said. "If we get sinkholes on the other side of the median, how do we get out?"
Denis Gladbach said he calls the city engineer about every two months about the issue.
"It just worries me," Pat Gladbach said, noting underneath the intersection lays a major junction of stormwater pipes. If the problem spreads, the neighbors don't know what they'll do.
Morasch said the Forest Hill project is finally moving forward, with design work being done now. The full project is estimated to cost $242,600. Morasch said the project could have been moved forward more quickly if the Public Works Department had more than one design engineer in what used to be a four-person division.
Don Fontana, stormwater engineer, said the Forest Hill system has been patched three or four times over the years, but it has finally reached a point where a temporary solution will no longer work.
"That's a great example of Band-Aiding, Band-Aiding, Band-Aiding. But, it just finally collapsed," Morasch said. "It's been sitting there a long time."
The Gladbachs and Barnetts said their main concern has been the children in the neighborhood. Before last fall, the road wasn't blocked off at all, and Denis and Pat Gladbach said they only were able to get barricades put around the area just before last Halloween, when they voiced their concerns about children trick-or-treating in the dark and possibly getting hurt.
Aside from the funding issues, Morasch and Fontana said another factor when it comes to failing infrastructure is when water mains fail, which is out of their control. In Jefferson City, Missouri American Water maintains approximately 150 miles of water mains, some of which are more than 120 years old.
Denis Gladbach said funding these types of repairs needs to be the top priority of the city, before funding any nonessential programs. He and his wife question why the Cole County capital improvement sales tax doesn't help fund these repairs, noting as residents of Jefferson City, they are also both residents of Cole County.
"The city is part of the county," Denis Gladbach said. "There's a priority here."
However, without a change in how stormwater is funded, Morasch said there likely won't be any changes to how failing infrastructure is addressed.
"Short of having a stormwater utility, this is the situation we're going to have," Morasch said. "If you look at anybody doing it well, they're really a utility, much like a wastewater utility."
Jefferson City does have a wastewater utility that funds all wastewater repairs, maintenance, equipment and staff. The 2016 fiscal year budget lists $20 million in wastewater revenues, though $10 million of that is bond proceeds.
"Our wastewater utility has a systematic way of looking at their lines with cameras and various things and going about and systematically upgrading the system," Morasch said. "They still have failures. But, they're fewer, and they have a utility fund that funds those improvements."
Morasch said there likely will be a time when the city has to have a serious discussion about whether to have such a utility for stormwater, but it hasn't been reached yet.
"There'll probably be a tipping point here, but we haven't reached that. And really, it's based on the community's level of service desire," Morasch said. "If the community feels like the stormwater system is fine, then it would be hard to institute a utility."
He said the staff looked at what a stormwater utility would mean for residents a few years ago, determining it likely would equate to a monthly $5 charge per household, though it would be more for commercial locations.
"That doesn't seem to be on anybody's front burner to look at," Morasch said.
'$15 million in need'
The Jefferson City Public Works Department has a running list of the failing stormwater infrastructure they know about but can't afford to fix. Currently, it has 58 projects listed with a total of more than $15 million in cost estimates, but it continues to grow as staff find more problem areas within the city.
Project / Listing date / Estimated cost
East Circle box culvert 2016 $64,500
Mesa Street arch pipe 2015 $622,430
Forest Hill system 2015 $242,600
Jobe Drive/Major Drive system 2014 $186,500
West McCarty Street box culvert 2015 $150,000
Monroe Street system 2015 $485,450
Greenberry Road curb and gutter 2013 $670,130
Hillsdale system 2014 $70,425
Southwest and Bassman pipe lining 2014 $150,000
Leonard Drive system 2012 $169,950
Country Club Drive 2016 $27,900
Chickadee Drive system 2015 $52,750
Buerhle Drive 2014 $141,550
607 Sue Drive system 2014 $81,875
Timber Road cross-road pipe 2014 $57,000
Midway Drive box culvert 2014 $175,000
Berry Street system 2012 $314,750
Taylor Street pipe lining 2014 $45,600
St. Mary's Boulevard and Ohio Street 2014 $257,900
Hub Street system 2011 $179,250
West Ashley, from Broadway to Washington 2010 $190,650
Leslie Drive cross road pipe(s) 2015 $97,700
Geneva Street inlets and pipe 2014 $126,000
Marion/Ridgewood system 2012 $382,500
Washington Street trunk line 2014 $327,500
Ridgeway Drive system 2014 $45,000
West McCarty Street, near Manilla 2014 $162,300
West Miller Street box culvert 2013 $1,318,100
Heritage Hill Road system 2014 $13,050
Air streets, phase II 2013 $216,125
Rosevalley Drive/Major Drive system 2013 $100,925
Allen Drive system 2014 $1,590,000
Inlets at High and Marshall intersection 2012 $265,925
West Edgewood Drive curb and gutter 2005 $223,000
Lowell and Marilyn 2014 $84,425
Various exit structures - Landwehr Hills 2011 $255,000
Douglas Street/Davis Street system 2012 $344,750
Union/Case/Adams Street system 2012 $283,150
East Atchison at Locust 2014 $62,550
North Polk Street system and paved ditch 2012 $289,400
East Tanner Way, east from Madison Street 2014 $159,000
West Circle at Main Street system 2012 $345,050
Schellridge to Huntleigh Place 2012 $171,000
Ihler Road from Wesley to Lola 2014 $488,500
Concord Drive/Saratoga/Lexington Drive 2015 $365,100
Riverview Cemetery and 405 Belair 2015 $346,500
Lee Street 2010 $219,750
Carol Harrison - county - detention 2014 $1,000,000
Stadium Boulevard, near West Edgewood 2016 $117,600
1100 block East High Street system 2008 $174,000
Starling Drive/Flamingo Road 2012 $754,600
1706 St. Mary's Blvd. 2012 $55,200
Boss Terrace 2011 $141,000
Sterling Price Road 2016 $108,500
Deer Trail 2016 $65,000
Manila Street 2016 $119,000
Valley Park Drive 2016 $33,000
Daisy Lane 2016 $11,000
TOTAL $15,197,410