LeClaire Ok's extra funds to repair sinkholes - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

LeClaire Ok's extra funds to repair sinkholes

By: Christine Souders

csouders@cbs4qc.com

Streets, sidewalks and driveways are caving in, that's what residents in a Leclaire neighborhood say, and folks say erosion has them living on shaky ground.

The city is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars to fill gaps under the Bluffs subdivision, but it's only a temporary solution and talk around the neighborhood is this needs to be fixed, for good.

Amy Venzke and her family moved to the Bluffs a year ago, and she's seen a difference in her driveway, where her kids often play basketball, "The driveway is really cracking and it's a danger and safety hazard."

But they say the problem isn't just on the surface. Some residents say they can even hear traffic from inside their basement.

"It's like the hollow sound and that's not usually normal that you can hear that, so we've all had concerns," said Venzke.

Kolette and Mitch Edgar say ever since the subdivision was built around 15 years ago, they too have issues with the unstable ground, "In the upstairs we have french doors that can't open because the addition sunk."

Mitch, a longtime contractor blames the erosion problems on bad construction, "All they did was covered it with dirt and let it be."

And residents, say they hope buying a home in the Bluffs wasn't a bad investment.

"You do worry about it because they're kind of expensive homes, we pay our taxes like anybody else so we're hoping that it's fixed because a lot of us want to stay in our homes a long time," said Venzke,

City Council voted Monday Night to add $120,000 dollars to the $250,000 dollars already being spent on stabilizing the ground until Spring. But that's only a temporary solution. We're told by council members a permanent fix could cost around 1 million.