MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Residents in South Memphis believe their neighborhood is slowly sinking. They say this has been an ongoing issue for nearly a decade.
“This part of the sidewalk that started to collapse in front of Ms. Sue’s house was a part of the original sidewalk that started to collapse in 2014," longtime resident Frank Johnson said. “The city came out and they repaired everything. "They repaired our sidewalks; they never gave us a reason as to why the sidewalks collapsed; right after that we begin to notice, like erosion. If you look up the street around mailboxes, our mailboxes are sinking—the ground around our mailboxes is eroding away; you can look down and see like a deep hole.”
City contractors replaced sewer pipes under the sidewalk today but the community believes this is only a temporary fix for a much deeper issue.
“Am I responsible for the drainage running in the neighborhood," Mittie Sue Cowanhenson, who lived in her home for over 60 years asked. "No, I’m not ... they built this neighborhood; I didn’t.”
"They're putting a band-aid on it, and we need real answers. We need civil engineers out here looking at our area, seeing what's going on. We know that the city is focused on developing downtown but yet it has a responsibility to all of the communities that don't live, that don't exist in downtown," Johnson said. "These areas have been neglected for well over twenty years and we’re tired of it. We’re just trying to exist; we’re just trying to live.”
As the issue persists, Councilwoman Teri Dockery said she has brought the issue before Memphis city council.
“Since my appointment, I have made every effort to be present for District 4 and responsive to the needs of my constituents," Dockery said. "As such, I did not delay in bringing this issue to the attention of the appropriate City officials."
A spokesperson for mayor Jim Strickland says the city is aware of the sidewalk problem and will be taking care of it.
The city council will be voting on the measure to allocate $500 thousand dollars for sidewalk repairs at its meeting next week.
'If City inspectors determine that the sidewalk damage stems from an underlying issue for which the City is responsible (i.e. a sinkhole caused by a compromised a City-owned underground utility), then the City would repair the sidewalk," according to Nicholas Oyler.