McALESTER —
Summer fun at the Komar wading pool could dry up early if a suspected leak causing damage to a neighborhood residence can’t be fixed without draining the pool, though city officials are reluctant to explore that option, hoping to keep the pool open through the remainder of the summer season.
The rent house at 530 S. B Street was already in need of repair after renters destroyed floors, walls, fixtures and windows, according to owner Joe Phifer, but now, he said, there’s water damage to add to it. The damage is adding to the repair workload, and he fears it will make the place harder, if not impossible, to sell, if something isn’t done soon, but contact with the city so far has netted no action.
Phifer’s brother, Everett Phifer, and Richard Clark have been repairing the damage done to the house by the renters, preparing it for market, and Clark, according to Joe Phifer, left a mattress on the garage floor so he could sleep a few hours when he works late into the night.
“The water’s coming up in the floors,” Phifer said, adding Clark came in one morning to find the mattress soaked. “The water’s got chlorine in it. It goes straight into the garage and into the house.”
He said his brother made him aware of the problem, but he didn’t realize how much water there was until Clark called to tell him they had dug a hole in the yard and it filled with water.
“My wife went over and looked, and sure enough, that hole was full,” he said.
“We’ve called the city,” Phifer added. “We’ve been having this problem and been trying to get help since the pool opened.”
“I guess they’re draining that pool some every day, or something,” Phifer said, wondering out loud where the water is coming from, “but they say they can’t do anything until the pool closes.”
McAlester Community Services Director Mel Priddy explained they are not draining the pool each day, he suspects a leak in a pipe in the newly-renovated wading pool – and he agrees something needs to be done. The question is what.
“We’re aware of it, we’re just not sure what the problem is,” Priddy said. “But we’re going to get started on it, and soon. We’re trying to fix it without disrupting the pool – that’s the debate right now.”
Priddy added that more research will reveal where the water is coming from, and he’s hoping a diversionary French drain will solve the issue, but he’s reserving judgment.
“There may be a leak in one of the pipes in the pool. That was all put in new not long ago,” he speculated. “If a French drain doesn’t work, we’ll have to dig up the deck, take the fence down.”
While Priddy said he’s hoping for a simple fix, he is not optimistic.
“I know it’s causing a problem, and in the end, we may have to end up digging the deck up,” he said. “We’re going to have to do something.”
Contact Mandy Carter at mcarter@mcalesternews.com.
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