Progress could be flowing soon in the 400 block of State Avenue, as the ongoing issue of water drainage is currently being addressed, according to city officials.
This issue is expected to be resolved by the end of this week, Public Works Director Robert Spurlock told The Enterprise-Tocsin this week.
Spurlock says his crew put in a new pipe and moved the meter.
City Engineer Ron Cassada had advised the replacement of a smaller 6-inch pipe with a bigger 8-to-12-inch pipe to avoid maintenance issues in the future.
The meter was previously located near the driveway of 409 State Street, a property that has been the source of much contention over the past few weeks at Indianola’s city board meetings.
North Yalobusha Hospice & Palliative Care has been leasing the property for over a year now, it says, with the intent of opening an adult daycare facility.
The state conducted a survey in 2020 but advised that the property could not be approved for the facility until its parking lot was fixed.
The property’s owner, Brown & Associates, pointed out several things last year the city needed to fix in terms of drainage before the parking lot could be repaired.
The city apparently agreed that some work needed to be done, but multiple delays led to it being brought up during at least two board of aldermen meetings in the last month.
Brown & Associates was able to hire a contractor to complete the repaving of the parking lot, but more issues came up this week.
Dr. Adrian Brown of Brown & Associates said this week in an email to Cassada that the city was still dragging its feet on completing its drainage project there, which he said led to vandals accessing the newly-paved lot and cutting donuts. The E-T was copied on that email.
Cassada and Spurlock are confident the city will be done with this project soon.
The city is also putting asphalt down in front of the parking lot, in hopes of alleviating future rainwater from backing up into the lot.
North Yalobusha Hospice & Palliative Care claims it has been negatively affected by the water drainage.
Once the lot is completed, and the daycare can be opened, North Yalobusha CEO Josephine Bell believes it will provide new opportunities for clients.
“Socialization is good. Some people are just stuck in the house,” said Bell. “Their kids are trying to work. We can feed them here and give them good nutritious meals. They can socialize with other people who are coming. We have people at their house who we bathe and clean. After that they can come here. It's just a win-win situation if they can get here.”
