It is a sight Precinct 1 Commissioner Joel Quintanilla called a disappointment.
“This is a master drainage ditch,” Quintanilla said as he pointed to a debris filled ditch. "This tells me that the previous administrations completely ignored drainage,” Quintanilla said.
He brought our Action 4 News camera to an area near Indian Hills East to show the numerous problems the precinct will face this hurricane season.
Debris littered across a three-mile span and overgrown weeds and trees taking over the drainage ditch.
He said if these master ditches are not cleaned up the water will have nowhere to go but up and out into nearby neighborhoods.
"I had no idea it was this bad,” Quintanilla said. “I knew it was our major focus, but I never thought undertaking this task would be so huge as far as the drainage issues are concerned."
One person who has been at the forefront of this cleanup project is Director of Drainage Benito Gutierrez.
He said cleaning up a three mile area would take his crew months to complete.
"Right now we have deterioration of the banks, this area is too overgrown---we have to make the area safe for our men to get in there and work,” Gutierrez said.
As for Quintanilla, he said it is time precinct one becomes proactive to the problems they face---instead of being reactive.
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