INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Independence said the city will step up and fix the flooding issues that have plagued business owners at 24 Highway and Northern for years.
What that solution looks like is unclear right now, but it starts with fixing a broken culvert.
A solution coming soon to address yrs of flooding issues on 24 Hwy? Biz owners say that solution needs to come soon. @41actionnews at 5. pic.twitter.com/YYdP1flba0
— Sarah Plake (@SarahPlakeTV) June 13, 2018
"I couldn't decide whether to open up or not, but I have for now. But if it keeps up, I can't do this anymore," Thelma Jordan said, owner of Fairmount Liquors in Independence.
Jordan's livelihood depends on the city's promise. The rains on May 25 nearly drowned out her business. She's gone through at least four other floods before that. She's lost thousands.
Jordan showed us her back room, where they rush to secure cases and bottles of alcohol in a panic every time rain is coming.
"Down here we have everything up on pallets, and it has to be that high because the water goes all the way up to there," Jordan said, pointing at pallets stacked about seven high.
The broken culvert restricts the flow of Sugar Creek, which runs from Independence next to the liquor store, underground across 24 Highway into the city of Sugar Creek.
The area is a flood plain but the real issues started when the culvert broke in 2012.
"Independence is definitely going to step up to that and get it solved one way or another," Independence Councilman At-Large Mike Huff said.
Huff said the city is going to talk with state representatives, Sugar Creek, and the Missouri Department of Transportation to figure out a solution.
Huff agrees the pipe needs to be fixed. It was installed in 1961, but the pipe's vintage is from 1906.
It's too late for Best Buy Car Lot in Sugar Creek, across 24 Highway from the liquor store. After losing nearly 100 cars over the years, they're relocating to a new spot in Independence.
The car lot's parking lot caved in where the culvert broke. The owner has since filled it in with gravel.
Jordan and several other people 41 Action News talked to in previous coverage said every time they tried to call either city, they'd be referred to each other.
MoDOT said the problem is not their responsibility because it is not on their property, which is 24 Highway.
Matt Killion, an engineer with MoDOT, said they didn't want to spend taxpayer dollars on a problem that was not theirs.
MoDOT is also named in a lawsuit the car lot is filing against the city, and couldn't comment further.
The city of Sugar Creek said it's not their responsibility either; Mayor Mike Larson told media outlets May 25 that it "is a problem on private property." Larson went on to say that he is working with MoDOT and Independence to "determine how this flooding situation can be remedied for the benefit of all concerned."
Huff said the finger pointing needs to end, and the city needs to take care of its business owners and residents.
"Hopefully [we'll] get that accomplished in a reasonable amount of time. Hopefully before the next flood," Huff said.
Jordan said it's about time.
"One thing I don't understand is, you're on a flood plane that runs all the way through Independence to the river, how you can block it and nobody does nothing," she said.
