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Kansas City school wants city to fix growing sinkhole

Posted at 9:54 PM, Aug 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-23 19:30:08-04

[Editor's note: There was confusion about which sinkhole needed repair at Hope Leadership Academy in a story that aired Thursday night on 41 Action News. The city is responsible for fixing one located about 120 feet from the school, but the one on school property must be fixed by the property owner.]

Parents and staff at the Hope Leadership Academy are concerned about a growing hole in the school's parking lot, which continues to get bigger.

"That's an accident waiting to happen," Diamond Scott, whose daughter attends the school, said.

The staff has been complaining about the hole for months, filing a complaint through the city's 311 Action Center in May, but it turns out the school ultimately may have to foot the bill for the repair because it's on private property.

After nothing was fixed for several months, contacted 41 Action News asking for help.

"Our true concern is that our children use this parking lot to get to our playground," Hope Leadership Academy Manager of Family and Community Engagement Bryan Love said.

KC Water, the city's water department, sent a crew to inspect the hole when the initial complaint was filed in May, according to a spokesperson.

At the time, it was determined a line needed to be replaced. But in order to do the work, a KCP&L power line had to be moved.

The water department spokesperson said the power line was moved, but it was moved too close to where the repairs need to be done.

A spokesperson for KCP&L said there has been "miscommunication" between its crews and the city.

However, on Friday, KC Water told 41 Action News that it did more research and discovered the hole at Hope Leadership Academy is not related to the information KC Water originally provided. The information KC Water provided is related to a different sinkhole repair near the school.

KC Water added it was notified of the hole at the school in June. An inspector told the school its collapsed sanitary sewer service line caused the collapse.

A KC Water crew went back to the school on Friday. It plans to repair the damaged manhole, but says the property owner is responsible for repairing the service line.