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Debris and Storm Water Run-Off Problems at Prairie Lee Lake Addressed
June 9, 2012
By Amy Buster
Monday evening, June 4, 2012 District 4 Councilmembers Dave Mosby and Bob Johnson met with their constituents at City Hall to address issues and resolutions to the continual problems with debris and storm run-off in Prairie Lee Lake. County Legislator, Bob Spence, Senior Staff Engineer Scott Edgar, City of Lee’s Summit Dept. of Public Works, City Manager, Steve Arbo; Department of Natural Resources: Andrea D. Collier, Aaron C. Bleibaum; Jackson County Parks and Rec Deputy Director, Mark Trosen, and City of Lee’s Summit Director of Codes Administration, Mark Dunning, were also in attendance.
Mike Timm, area resident and organizer of the annual clean up at Prairie Lake, has been working with Councilmember Dave Mosby, City Manager, Steve Arbo and the DNR . Timm presented photos of Prairie Lee Lake demonstrating the massive debris and silt problems the Lake is facing.
“More than 500 businesses watershed feed into the creek that feeds into Prairie Lee Lake. They need to keep their sites clean,” said Timm.
Part of that cooperation effort includes letters to be sent out to area businesses by the City of Lee’s Summit Codes Administration Department, Mark Dunning, with suggestions on how to keep the water safe. The creek that feeds into Prairie Lee Lake is the passage way that most pollutants use to reach the Lake. E-coli levels in the Lake are high, as are nitrogen, and phosphorous. The downpour Thursday and Friday, May 24 & 25, a Prairie Lee Lake resident claimed to count 248 pieces of debris crashing from the creek into the Lake, at an average of every 15 minutes.
An unnamed resident of the Lake admitted that due to the pollutants and debris, no longer do he or his children swim in the Lake, drawing a comparison of the Lake to the garbage compactor scene in the movie Star Wars; they’re just waiting for the one eyed snake creature to pull them under.
The Annual Spring Clean Up Day at The Lake, two years ago, resulted in 18-22 dump-truck hauls carting away more than 1800 pounds of trash from the Lake. Concerns were expressed that the citizens living at Prairie Lee Lake cannot tackle the clean-up responsibilities of the Lake on their own, and stated that it takes more than a bi-annual Clean Up Day to deal with the situation.
Possible solutions noted started with grant money in order to fund the project. Solutions taken into consideration by Mosby and Johnson included continuing to educate schools, businesses, and residents not to dump their trash in area waterways; possibly dredging the Lake in order to help with the silt problem; cleaning up storm sewers by the City after each and every thunderstorm. A study was also suggested to look at the Gate structures, culverts, used in England and Scotland, as a way to protect our storm drains as the current use of screens covering them does not work at an acceptable level.
The meeting was concluded with the promise by City Manager, Steve Arbo, that Prairie Lee Lake residents were not facing this battle alone, and that they are genuinely there to support the residents through communication and support, and not to lose patience.
Another meeting will be announced later this month.
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