Greenwood officials are trying to determine what caused two sinkholes in Market Plaza and who should be responsible for fixing them.
The 4-foot-deep sinkholes developed earlier this month following weeks of heavy rain and a construction project on Pleasant Creek.
Christopher B. Burke Engineering designed the project, and HIS Constructors was hired by the city to do the work. When the city discovered the problem, HIS Constructors filled the holes with a type of concrete and roped off the area while the city and engineers determine a solution, Greenwood stormwater superintendent Chris Jones said.
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“We do feel it’s stabilized,” Jones said. “There will still be further action and a permanent repair, though. We are in contact with the street department and city engineers, monitoring the situation every day, working towards our goal of getting this resolved.”
Greenwood city attorney Krista Taggart would not comment on whether the city would take legal action if necessary, or if HIS Constructors or Christopher B. Burke Engineering would be responsible for the permanent fix and its cost.
HIS Constructors and Christopher B. Burke Engineering declined to comment and referred all questions to the city.
One of the sinkholes is out of the way behind the plaza, while the other is along the creek side in the Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza parking lot.
The sinkhole in the Jockamo parking lot is taking up roughly 10 spots, Jockamo shift manager Kevin Shrewsbury said.
“We’ve had a decent amount of customers ask what’s going on,” Shrewsbury said. “Business has been the same, but it definitely doesn’t help. We haven’t had anyone mad, mainly just curious.”
The city has notified Jockamo and other businesses, as well as the property owner where they’re located, of the current situation and the city’s efforts to get it resolved, Jones said.
Initially, the city spent $1.2 million to build a new bridge over Pleasant Creek at Market Plaza and reinforce the creek’s banks. The city used money from its stormwater utility fund to complete what officials call a vital project, because nearly 1,700 acres of land drain into Pleasant Creek between the new Greenwood city building at Market Plaza and the Greenwood Municipal Airport.
Concrete walls along the creek between Madison Avenue and the bridge over Pleasant Creek at Market Plaza began to deteriorate and slide into the creek, slowly backing up the creek from the city center towards the airport, Greenwood Stormwater Superintendent Chris Jones said.
“Our concern was, if concrete fell into the creek it would back up from Market Plaza all the way to the airport and cause up-stream flooding,” Jones said. “Everything in that floodway would have been flooded, so we focused our energy and attention on that as a part of our master plan.”
That project was completed in April.
