Bolstered Hill Just Needs Bit of Rain

It may not look pretty yet, but city officials say the newly repaired hillside below Dunning Drive is finally secure after a massive project to shore up the slope.

When the recently reseeded hills begin to sprout, workers say, the bleak-looking section of Rimrock Canyon will look much better.

“There’s a few places where it’s sprouting a little already,” foreman Dan Manning said Thursday, looking out over the beige-gray hillside where 34,000 cubic yards of dirt have been deposited to make an earthen buttress 35 feet deep and 120 feet wide.

“What we need is a few light rains, and that will make everything real nice.”

Stabilizing the hillside became a top priority after a pair of landslides forced three families from their homes last spring. The $800,000 project began in November and will be complete once Dunning Drive is resurfaced. On Thursday, workers were hosing off the roadway for that final step.

Residents say they are ready for their lives to return to normal. Some whose homes were not damaged in the March and April slides were unnerved after stress cracks began appearing along Dunning Drive in August and a geologist’s report said the street and other homes could be at risk.

Property owner Bing Boka, who also is a city firefighter, said most residents are “tickled pink” that the hillside has been steadied. “I think it’s wonderful what they’ve done,” Boka said. “The city jumped on this thing. They did a heck of a job.”

For others, though, the struggle continues.

A house that was destroyed in the landslide was cleared during the hillside stabilization according to an agreement between the city and the property owner, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said. But two of the three property owners whose homes were damaged have filed claims against the city and have retained attorneys.