Neighbors were sick of seeing sewage in the street. After KENS got involved, the officials provided a short-term and long-term plan to address it.
KIRBY, Texas — Homeowners in Kirby said they had been dealing with liquid sewage running down their street since at least June. And while the City of Kirby was attempting to deal with it, neighbors said the efforts just weren’t enough.
Residents told KENS 5 the issue started after a sewer main in the nearby ally collapsed. They said sewage would flow out of a manhole on Scotsman Street multiple times a day. They did see a city truck come by multiple times a day to pump the sewage out of the manhole but it always seemed to come back. Homeowner Robert Castillo said crews didn’t always clean the street either.
“It’s unhealthy. It stinks. I have to drive through that,” Robert Castillo said. “Every single day they come out but sometimes the leave the residual and don’t clean that up.”
Robert Sowder told KENS 5 he had called the City of Kirby about it in late June and he knew the city had made plenty of trips to pump it out.
“It will take about seven to eight trips to pump it out, twice a day,” Sowder said.
Still, the source of the problem had not been corrected and Sowder said they had no idea when that sewer main would be fixed.
KENS 5 did see Kirby Director of Public works Michael Farmer on the street but Farmer said he was not allowed to tell us anything. KENS 5 called and emailed the Kirby City Manger multiple times the following Monday but did not hear back.
Eventually, KENS 5 contacted Kirby Mayor Janeshia Grider on her cell phone and Grider said we would get a response.
At the same time, Castillo said public works returned to the street on Monday and completely cleaned it up.
“Monday was the first morning in four months when there was not sewage in my driveway,” Castillo said. “During that day they came out 10 times to pump the sewage and that made a tremendous difference.”
Later on Tuesday, KENS 5 received a statement from the City of Kirby outlining how they would address the issue in both the short-term and long-term.
The short-term plan was “pumping down the manhole on Scotsman to prevent any sewer overflow into the street.” The statement also said the city would disinfect the street.
The long-term plan was to “replace the sewer main from Scotsman to Blue Jay within the ally.” The city said the anticipated timeline for that project would be “approximately four to six weeks, contingent upon the necessary tree trimming around utility poles to accommodate bracing.”
The statement also included a quote from City Manager Dr. Brian Rowland:
“We are committed to swift action and long-term solutions to protect the health, safety, and quality of life of our residents,” Rowland said.
Castillo and other neighbors said they were thankful the sewage is finally gone and they hope it stays that way.
“It’s a win,” Castillo said. “I’m hoping they will keep pumping. It’s just keeping the public safe. I really appreciate you guys taking this story and getting them moving on this.”
KENS 5 will be following up after six weeks to check on progress.
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