The following letter was written by Rebecca Turner to the Army Corps Of Engineers and the Overland Park City Council requesting a publc hearing. She is a resident of Creekside concerned about the effect of Wal-Mart on downstream Negro Creek.

NeighborhoodNet has received letters from the following neighborhoods downstream of the proposed Wal-Mart development: Willowbend, Creekside, Creekside North, The Woods of Ironhorse, Leawood Mission Valley, The Reserve at Ironhorse, and The Hills of Ironhorse. For a summary of information provided from downstream neighborhoods on flooding, silting, erosion, safety, and other impacts, see NeighborhoodNet's Summary Article. Some writers provided dramatic photos of flooding and erosion, official documentation acknowledging the problem, and other evidence of the effect of development on our waterways.

If you have concerns about the effect of this development at 159th and Metcalf and would like your views heard by the Corps of Engineers, the EPA, the city councils of Leawood and Overland Park, and other government agencies who should be open to your thoughts, you may send an email to:

water@nbrhd.net.

The email will automatically be directed to these agencies. NeighborhoodNet also will receive a copy (I neither publish nor distribute emails without the author's approval).

Overland Park bears primary responsibility for protecting residents from downstream flooding and related damages. Overland Park ignored its new water policy and put those considerations off until later - after it had approved the developoment - so there is time to get your concerns heard.

The Corps of Engineers bears primary responsibility for protecting streams and wetlands, including those on the proposed Wal-Mart property. These protections were substantially weakened by regulations just published, but the Corps and EPA should still be notified of water issues. Wal-Mart has so far not requested a permit from the Corps. The Corps can notify the public of an application and ask for public input. To see examples of the notification, visit its Directory of Public Notices. It turns out that their is an application from Kansas City, MO, affecting Negro Creek.