INDIANAPOLIS -- Homeowners in an eastside neighborhood are thanking Call 6 Investigates after the city Department of Public Works is finally cleaning up overgrown vegetation in a gated drainage area along Windsor Creek.
The easement was overrun with high weeds, trees, bushes and grass. Homeowners complained it was an eyesore, an attractant for bugs and rodents and prevented proper drainage along the creek.
Mary Hemmelgarn, a 14-year resident of the neighborhood near Shadeland Avenue and 16th Street, contacted Call 6 Investigates after years of trying to get the city to clean up the property, which she said belongs to the city of Indianapolis.
“It has a cement wall with a fence atop it that has a gate with a lock to which DPW has the key,” said Mary Hemmelgarn in an email to Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney. “I don’t know where else to turn so I am hoping you can help me. I simply want them to do their job.”
After questions from Call 6 Investigates, a crew from the Indianapolis Department of Public Works arrived Tuesday evening and again Wednesday morning to clear away the vegetation.
“It’s great,” said Jim Hemmelgarn. “All that growth prevented a lot of the drainage. You could tell it was beginning to block the waterway.”
Hemmelgarn said Mayor Joe Hogsett also came out to see the problem as well.
A spokesperson for the Indianapolis Department of Public Works said there was some confusion over whose responsibility it is to take care of the area.
“The property is part of an easement and when constructed in the 90’s, there was an agreement with landowners that they would be responsible for caring for it,” said Jennifer Hashem, DPW spokesperson in an email to RTV6. “The city seems to have treated it differently over the years, depending on leadership and management.”
Hashem said in the short term, they have crews out cleaning up the area.
“In the long term, we are pulling records to see who all has been affected and how that area can be better cared for,” said Hashem. “We have committed to the affected residents that we will identify a long term solution – in fact, the mayor, as well as several DPW employees, have been out to talk with people living adjacent to the creek.”
Taylor Schaffer, spokesperson for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said the Mayor’s Action Center has been working on the issue since a resident contacted them on June 21.
