Mark Cotter and Mayor Huether spreading the word (Image; KDLT)
Holy Moly! You mean when you are transparent with the public you get results and cooperation?! Who knew? Instead of trying to sweep the shit (literally) under the rug, Huether chose to inform the public and ask for their help, and in return offers city assistance to the affected. If there was one thing that stuck in my craw about Munson, he was a ‘secrets’ man. I know I rarely hand out kudos to Mayor Hubris, but this time he deserves them (KDLT);
Mayor Mike Huether is still asking residents on the west side of Sioux Falls to limit their use of water Thursday morning, however, the city averted in his words “a major crisis” Up to a million gallons of wastewater had backed up beneath the city of Sioux Falls. Eventually it would have made it’s way back into homes. However city crews were able to find the blockage. They relieved the pressure on the sanitary sewer system and began pumping the wastewater into the storm sewer system. Mayor Mike Huether says, “when this started, we had projected thousands and thousands of homes in Sioux Falls were going to have sewage back up in their basements, right now we’ve got less than 10 that have been reported.” Public Works Director, Mark Cotter says the blockage occurred in a 36-inch sewer line near the South Dakota State Penitentiary. This line serves the west side of Sioux Falls, and that’s why residents are still being urged to limit their use of water this morning. Mark Cotter public works director says- “our next steps, we are mobilizing a professional bypass company. They will physically bypass the wastewater around this segment of pipe between two manholes, once the bypass is done we’ll be able to look inside the pipe, see what’s caused this and then design the right improvements.” City officials say wastewater is going directly to the Big Sioux River, so they are warning people to stay out of the water until further notice.