MITCHELL – A local business owner and Mitchell resident took his frustrations over flooding to the Mitchell City Council Monday and criticized the city’s infrastructure performance during the recent storm.
The record-breaking two-day rainstorm from June 20-21, which hit Mitchell with 7.7 inches of rain, wreaked havoc at TK Electric and left a foot of standing water inside Mitchell’s longtime business.
Phil Lee, owner of TK Electric, took aim at the city’s drainage system during the citizen comment portion of the council meeting.
“I’m a little disappointed in the infrastructure in our neighborhood. I had a foot of water in the entire building,” Lee said. “To say it worked better than expected is bullshit.”
TK Electric is located in an area that has experienced drainage issues. Neighboring businesses along East Hackberry Avenue, such as Klock Werks and Patzer Woodworking, suffered damage from the late June storm. Lee was the only business owner to speak about the flooding Monday.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic
Five years ago, a historic three-day storm that drenched Mitchell with more than 8 inches of rain caused significant flood damage to the same businesses along the East Hackberry Avenue and Juniper Avenue area.
Following the 2019 floods, the city carried out a drainage project to improve the drainage system in the hard-hit area.
Sam Fosness / Republic
Lee said he dropped his flood insurance after the East Central Drainage Project was completed a few years ago.
“I don’t have flood insurance because we were told it wouldn’t happen again,” Lee said. “I don’t know if we’re dumping too much water into our area or what?”
Bruce Trebil, a Mitchell resident who lives along the Dry Run Creek bike path, urged city leaders to develop a plan that reduces the frequent flooding that Dry Run Creek experiences during heavy rains.
Dry Run Creek is a major stormwater management artery in the south-central part of the city. During the June 20-21 storm that soaked Mitchell, Dry Run Creek flooded and caused major flooding to some homes located near the low-lying creek.
Trebil expressed concerns about the water capacity of Dry Run Creek.
“Years ago, before the carton plant and the Pepsi plant, this was a cornfield. Now it’s a road, curbs and gutters. All that water runs into Dry Run. When they redid Sanborn, they said they were going to put in new pipes that go to Dry Run Creek. I told them that wouldn’t work,” Trebil said. “You’re running that water down there, but you’re not doing anything to the creek.”
Following the 2019 flood, the city hired engineers to evaluate the feasibility of widening Dry Run Creek to increase stormwater treatment capacity. Engineers determined that a creek expansion was not necessary after the 2019 assessment.
Despite the assessment concluding that a creek expansion was not necessary, Public Works Director Joe Schroeder said the city removed silt and performed maintenance work on Dry Run Creek several years ago to improve the drainage basin.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Republic
Sam Fosness joined the Mitchell Republic in May 2018. He grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, and graduated from Mitchell High School. He attended the University of South Dakota at Vermillion, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in English. While in college, Fosness worked as a news and sports reporter for The Volante newspaper.
