Residents of South Douglas Drive expressed their concerns of the flooding in their yards during a special presentation to the City Council Tuesday.

Diane Schaefer, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, presented to the council a slide show as well as her neighbor David Cox’s video outlining the damage that their yards receive during a moderate or severe rainfall.

The houses on South Douglas Drive often have standing water and flooding in their yards during rainfall because there is improper drainage in the area, Schaefer said.

“It looks like you are living next to a river,” Schaefer said. “We would like to see (the city) correct this problem.”

Schaefer suggested that some of the water runoff problems in her area on Douglas Drive is a result of new housing developments such as subdivisions that are causing extra flooding in her and her neighbor’s yards.

The suggestion that Schaefer presented to the council was to put a moratorium on new development on South Douglas Drive until the water runoff problem is solved.

Mayor Dan Cougill said a moratorium on the new development would not help with any water runoff problems, but the council would consider some short term solutions until more long term solutions could be found.

According to the city’s Five-Year plan, there should not be any major improvements done to Douglas Drive until 2004 or 2005, but the city may have the public works department do small projects, Cougill said. One short-term solution could be to clean out the plugged up culverts on South Douglas Drive.

Reggie Phillips, owner of Unique Properties, was present at the meeting to say that his developments on South Douglas Drive have not affected the water runoff into the resident’s yards, and he would like to work with residents on a solution to their problems.

City Manager Bill Riebe said a long term solution to the water runoff problem will have to be researched extensively before any action takes place.

“We need to study this issue and look into it in much greater detail,” Reibe said.

One cause of the excess flooding in that area in the past two years may be a result of heavy rains in the past years, Riebe said.

In other business, the council voted to place on file for public inspection an ordinance to change the currently unused Class E package liquor license to a Class D restaurant license. Dan Sebright of Miki’s Restaurant has an application on file for a restaurant liquor license, Cougill said.

The council also:

n. Approved an ordinance approving Gary and Mildred Wright to build a 960 square foot garage on 320 N. Sixth St.

n. Approved a resolution allowing the city to sell a surplus Kabota tractor on www.ebay.com and in an advertisement in the Charleston Times Courier.

n. Approved an ordinance to close Sixth Street between Olive and Locust avenues and give the land to Salisbury Church for their community center, Ted’s Warehouse.

n. Placed on file for public inspection a resolution for the city to enter into a

lease agreement with Vesuvius, USA for 0.4 acres of land for city employee parking next to the city garage for $45 per month for 19 years.