- Residents of the Jake Gaither neighborhood are concerned about flooding from the pond.
- Heavy rains cause streets to resemble ponds, creating significant issues for the community.
- Mayor Dailey has tasked the deputy city manager with finding out the costs of dredging the lakes.
- Watch the video above to hear what neighbors want to see happen to their community's water control.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Better flood control after severe weather; that’s what Southwest neighbors are asking to see.
I'm Terry Gilliam, your Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood reporter.
I hear from neighbors asking the city to do more to prevent flooding on their streets.
“We want to be able to control that water when we get heavy rain.”
Willie Whiting Jr. has mentioned poor water control issues in the Jake Gaither neighborhood before.
“It’s pretty bad. April showed us just how bad it can get, and it can get a lot worse than that.”
Here's how one road looks when it's dry— but it's a different story after heavy rain. That leaves streets looking like ponds.
Back in May, city leaders came out to talk with neighbors about the issue.
Wednesday night, the neighbors went to city hall to follow up.
Neighbor Vandon Jones spoke at Wednesday's city hall meeting about the situation.
“Those homes on the south Notre Dame side were bought out because of flooding, mold, mitigation, other issues that damaged the homes.”
Now, neighbors want to see the lakes that flood dredged out. But that maintenance may be expensive.
“As it relates to the dredging, there are some environmental hurdles that we would have to cost because it is a wetland. Not that it can’t be done but it’s time consuming and probably cost.”
Though neighbors realize this is a process, they’re glad the issue is at the forefront.
“I believe now that we stuck a pin in it and the Mayor knows our issue— he's already stuck a pin and gave a charge to his deputy city manager to bring back information by January."
So far, Mayor Dailey has directed staff to find out how much it would cost to dredge the lakes in Jake Gaither. Commissioners are set a vote in January on whether to proceed with dredging, and to set a timeline. In Southwest Tallahassee, Terry Gilliam, ABC27.
