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WANTED TO STOP THE PROJECT IN ITS TRACKS. LONGTIME RESIDENTS SURROUNDING MCKINLEY PARK HAVE A HUGE ISSUE WITH A NEW NEIGHBOR. >> I WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE I KNEW THE PARK WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. VICKI: SO MUCH THAT THEY ARE GOING BEYOND LOUD CRITICISM, THEY ARE SUING THE CITY. >> I WANT THEM TO WAKE UP AND FACE REALITY. VICKI: ALREADY TAKING SHAPE, A COMBINATION WATER AND SEWAGE VAULT THAT THIS CITY COUNCILMEMBER ARGUES WILL ALLEVIATE LOCALIZED FLOODING. >> WILL MOSTLY BE EMPTY, THAT IS THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT. IT IS TO HELP US IN EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS. VICKI: BUT THE PROBLEM, AND IT IS A BIG ONE FOR RESIDENTS ACROSS THE STREET, THE VAULT COMBINED SEWAGE AND WATER, WHILE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE A SEPARATE SYSTEM. >> THE PROBLEM IS, A BROKEN, ANTIQUATED SEWER SYSTEM. THE CITY HAS KNOWN THIS FOR OVER 50 YEARS. >> OUR SYSTEM WAS BUILT IN 1895. WE ARE IN THE TO THOUSAND NOW, I THINK THE RESIDENTS OF MCKINLEY PARK DESERVED TO HAVE A SEPARATED SEWER SYSTEM. >> IT IS FUNCTIONAL, IT DOES WORK. TO CHANGE IT WOULD REQUIRE, BY OUR ESTIMATE, OVER $2 BILLION AND 20 YEARS WORTH OF WORK. VICKI: HOWEVER, THE DEEPER ISSUE IS WHAT DREW THESE DECADES LONG RESIDENTS HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. >> MY PARENTS CAME HERE, AND WE WANT TO PRESERVE THE PARK IN THE BEAUTY OF TODAY, WE DON’T WANT TO TURN INTO A SUBURBAN TYPE OF PARK WITH A LOT OF CEMENT. VICKI: THE GROUND IS STILL BEING RIPPED UP, BUT THE FIGHT CONTINUES OVER THE FUTURE OF A PIECE OF SACRAMENTO HISTORY. >> WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS? MY OPINION IS THEY ARE MORE OR LESS AFRAID OF CHANGE. >> I AM ALL FOR CHANGE. BUT IT WOULD NOT BE ON THE NATIONAL HISTO

Advertisement Residents file lawsuit over McKinley Park water vault construction Sacramento goes to court over water-sewage vault project Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The city of Sacramento is continuing construction of a water-sewage vault at historic McKinley Park, and residents continue to take the city to court. Some McKinley Park residents have banded together to “Halt the Vault,” arguing the infrastructure is merely a Band-Aid solution to an antiquated drainage system, as well as threatening the historic touches McKinley Park is known for. “It’s a beautiful setting that has meant a lot to us throughout the years,” said Kathleen McLean, who’s lived in McKinley Park for 55 years. “My parents came here. We want to preserve the park in the beauty of today. We don’t want to turn the park into a suburban park with a lot of cement.”The city argues the storm runoff vault will reduce and prevent localized flooding.“I’m a builder myself. I think this project will of great benefit to East Sacramento,” City Councilmember Jeff Harris said. “It’s mostly going to be empty, and that’s the long and the short of it. It’s an improvement to help us in extreme weather events.”But residents who filed the lawsuit said they have an outdated drainage system that combines sewage and water. They want a modern system like other city neighborhoods have that splits sewage and water. “Our system was built in 1895. So we’re in the 2000s, and I think the residents of McKinley Park really deserve a separated sewer system,” said Melinda Johnson, who’s lived near McKinley Park for 45 years. “This is the position we’ve put to the city all along. Why don’t you just finish the job you started? You got up to 38th Street. We’re 33rd, 34th, 35th streets -- three blocks away. Just finish it.”Harris said financially, doing that in McKinley Park, as well as other neighborhoods, would be too expensive. “It is functional. It does work,” Harris said. “And to change it would require, by our estimates, $2 billion -- 20 years’ worth of work.”Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Richard Sueyoshi will make a decision on the lawsuit. However, construction can continue on the vault project, which is roughly three football fields in size and 25 feet deep. Harris said if a judge rules it can move forward, completion could happen as early as next year.