'Ticked Off' about Ditches on Hile Road

Right around Memorial Day, Hile Road resident Paul Hunter came home early from work to a "much larger" ditch in his front yard, without any notice.

"My main issue with this, is that we didn't ask for the work to be done," Hunter said.

Service Director Dano Koehler said it isn't uncommon to widen a ditch without the resident's knowledge, as it's the city's responsibility to maintain them.

"I’d say probably the majority of the times we go without invitation to ditch because of the fact that we do see there are problems with drainage," he said.

On Hile Road, Koehler said there are work orders out to fix drainage problems to avoid worsening the road and leaving stagnant water in clogged culvert pipes.

But Hunter said water was never a problem on his property and can't figure out why other ditches were worked on before his.

"We've lived here three and a half years and we never saw the ditch overfill," he said. 

He and his wife's second concern is the how wide and steep the ditch is now — about 4 feet deep and 5 feet wide.

Koehler said there is no standard measurements for a ditch, it depends on the height of the property, among several other things taken into consideration.

"None of the other [ditches on Hile Road] are like that ... we used to be able to walk across it before," Michele Hunter said. 

"So now were concerned with our [4-year-old] daughter playing in the front yard ... we're worried about her falling into the ditch and the other kids in the neighborhood," her husband added.

Koehler said there are options, but they are more costly. He estimates putting in a pipe and filling the ditch would cost about $1,500 in materials, not including labor, at the owner's expense. 

Mayor Karen Fritschel also suggested landscaping the ditch to make it look nicer.

"I don't like the look of the ditch," she said, "but maybe once the grass comes back it will look nicer."

Koehler agrees about the ditch's unpleasant aesthetics.

"I won’t say it's a gorgeous looking ditch. Unfortunately because the way [the Hunter's] yard contours, we weren’t able to give you a nice edge,"he said.

The new ditch is "much larger," according to Hunter, who added, the edge of the ditch is also bothersome. 

"There is no shoulder now — we are just very concerned about the safety now and during the winter when the roads are bad I am very very concerned that a car is going to go into the ditch as that hill can be tough to drive on in [snow] storms," he said.

Councilman Mike Rasor isn't happy with the timing of digging the new ditch and that residents are upset.

"I'm ticked off about what happened to these residents and ticked off it hasn’t been cured yet," he said, vowing to continue to find a solution for the Hile Road residents.

"It's going to cause more problems for them [making the ditch larger]. We dropped the ball on this and we need to go and fix this gentleman's place first," Rasor said.

City engineers are scheduled to come to the next Roads and Safety Committee meeting June 20 at 5:30 p.m. at to discuss fixing the drainage problems and residents' concerns with ditches on Hile Road.

"I think there were all good intentions and [the city] didn’t mean to do anything to [Hunter] or anyone else," said Fritschel.

For updates on the story, check Stow Patch after the June 20 meeting.