Cortland residents complain

The ditch is not designed to normally be filled with water, one official said.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- Neighbors complain that a wide ditch intended to ease drainage problems in the Shepherds Hill neighborhood is a hazard and eyesore.
At a city council meeting Monday, one resident after another stood up to condemn what some called a "canal" to compensate for inadequate storm drains in the area.
"I wanted to live in a nice community, a nice place," said Keith Niechwiej of Anthony Circle. "For the extra money I paid to come here, I'm dealing with a system that is poorly done and now they are looking for a cheap way to fix it."
Plans for the 20-foot-wide, 3-foot-deep ditch were the fruit of months of negotiation between developer Anthony Petrocco and the city. Following heavy flooding last summer, a consultant working for the city discovered that Petrocco had installed undersized storm drains in the new neighborhood.
Petrocco is putting in the ditch as a way to partially compensate for his having installed storm sewers too small to handle rain runoff in the area.
Moving water out
During the meeting, city officials said the 20-foot-wide, 3-foot-deep open ditch was the best way to move water out of the overburdened storm system, and that covering it would make it less effective.
The ditch runs parallel to state Route 305 behind the homes on Laura Lane. It will initially be grassy, but the city may eventually cement it over so water will run faster, said service director Donald Wittman.
The ditch is not designed to hold water under normal circumstances, he said.
However, residents complained that they have already seen children playing in water in the ditch and that they worry about the possibility of a drowning.
"It is a very dangerous situation," said Carol Hoffman, the mother of two boys on Anthony Circle.
Residents also asked about ways the ditch could be screened from public view. However, any step to obscure the ditch would also make it more difficult to watch that children don't get in, said Police Chief Gary Mink.
He said parents have the primary responsibility to make sure their children don't play in any of the open ditches in the city.
"It is not a matter of good parenting, it is a matter of children being children," Hoffman said following the meeting.