STEUBENVILLE — One week after approving emergency funds to be used to start correcting one flooding issue, two more concerns were brought to the Jefferson County commissioners on Thursday.
Adena Mayor Brenda Roski addressed the board about issues her village in the southern portion of the county is having with flooding, as did Olivia Stone, who resides outside the corporation limits of Amsterdam.
Last week, the commissioners approved $10,000 in emergency funding for the county Emergency Management Agency to remove debris from a portion of a creek in the village of Amsterdam.
During that discussion, Commissioner Dave Maple referred to a section of the Ohio Revised Code that sets the process that allows the commissioners to be involved in maintaining creeks, requiring a petition from residents and a determination by the county engineer’s office regarding which properties benefit from the work.
Those property owners could be made to incur the cost of the work.
Roski and Stone were provided with a packet of information from the revised code about the processes they would need to follow.
Roski said that gas and oil work in the area has created more runoff into the creeks in the village, making the flooding problem worse.
She said she has been in contact with several different agencies, including the Ohio EPA, Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District and Army Corps of Engineers, but the problem, which predates her time as mayor, has not been addressed, leading her to come to the commissioners.
“Many before me, residents and our township trustees know this is a huge problem,” she said. “With some help we could eliminate hardships for residents.”
“I’m begging,” she said, pleading her case for something to be done.
“When excessive rain comes, we’re drowning,” she added later, pointing out residents have to pay large amounts for flood insurance. “Not to be dramatic, but what is it going to take to get somebody’s attention?”
Commissioner Thomas Graham suggested she speak with EMA Director John Parker and told the mayor “it will be investigated.”
He said Parker and the EMA could suggest emergency funds to clear some debris from the problem areas in the near term, such as they did in Amsterdam.
Maple commended the mayor for voicing the concerns of her residents.
Stone said one end of the road she resides on, township Road 275, floods and recently downed trees on the other end of the road made for a hazardous situation with no way in or out for 20 households on the road.
“You’re literally trapped and can’t get in or out,” she said. “This is no longer a flooding issue, it’s a safety issue.”
She said during a recent storm the issue delayed emergency personnel from arriving on scene for an emergency, a vehicle with children in it stuck in the flood water, by 30 minutes.
“(Twenty or 30 minutes) is life or death when you’re talking about a heart attack or stroke,” she said. “I cannot sit idly by any longer when lives could be lost.”
Stone said the area is where two creeks come together and noted the county owns a portion of one of them.
She said ODOT, after three years of complaints, finally agreed to address one issue under a bridge.
She also brought up concerns about the new county sewer plant that was constructed as part of a more than $11 million project in the village increasing flow in the creek, calling it “alarming and frightening” and noting that not everyone in the village is happy about the project because of the cost of tying into the new system.
“You come to our town seeking help in getting elected, now the same town that you come to seeking votes is coming to you for help,” Stone said.
She did thank the commissioners for the $10,000 in emergency funds approved last week, but said it’s going to take more to correct the problems.
“We appreciate the help you have given as well as any future help,” Stone said.
In both cases, the commissioners maintained its not a matter of not wanting to help, it was a matter of trying to figure out how they can legally – and the landowners having to pay might be part of it.
“We’re not legislators, the law is what the law is,” Maple said, noting the use of emergency funds is a potential way to alleviate some of the burden.
“We have to follow that law to the best of our ability. I don’t know the result, I am just sending warning signs that at the end of this, there’s a section (of the code) called scheduled assessments. My intention is to follow the law, but be sure to use any way I cannot tax the property owner who’s next to a creek.”
To that end, a motion was made for that section of code to be referred to the prosecutor’s office for review.
“We will do everything we can to not let (landowners be assessed the cost),” Graham said. “But we have to be up front that this is what the law states. We will look for every avoidance that we can.”
Maple noted he, too, lives near a creek and Graham said he understands the concern of landowners hearing they could be financially responsible.
“I would be (upset) too,” he said.
“We’re here to try to help,” Commissioner Tony Morelli said, noting he had conversations with Amsterdam Mayor Jim Phillips, who he said is confident the money committed so far will help.
“It’s a tough position for us to be in because we want to do the next thing to try and help people, but we have to abide by the law,” he said.
Morelli said he is going to tour the creeks with the mayor, and Graham noted he had a meeting later in the day with another resident of the area.
Roski and Stone said they had signed petitions from residents seeking the county’s help.
"hear" - Google News
September 03, 2021 at 02:03PM
https://ift.tt/3mUOHeG
Jefferson County commissioners hear more concerns over flooding creeks - The Steubenville Herald-Star
"hear" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KTiH6k
https://ift.tt/2Wh3f9n
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jefferson County commissioners hear more concerns over flooding creeks - The Steubenville Herald-Star"
Post a Comment