Residents, government work together, save money - Other Community News - Ohioans for Responsible Rural Development

Pataskala Standard
Published January 31, 2012

By Larry Fugate

ETNA -- Local residents and government officials banded together to repair a major flooding problem on York Road that drove a family from their home in 2011.

A potentially costly ditch petition submitted to the Licking County commissioners by the Etna Township trustees has been withdrawn.

Instead, property owners in the area did some infrastructure repairs, added some drainage tile and raised the grade level of the land to help reduce a serious flooding problem that forced the Derek and Sara Bobst family to leave their home in 2011 for several weeks.

If the ditch process had been followed, government rules and the bidding process could have resulted in a project costing from a low-end of $18,000 to as much as $30,000 if professional engineering fees were included.

Instead, some neighbors got together and did the work with township and county oversight at an estimated cost of between $2,000 and $2,200 that included materials and labor.

Previously, heavy rains poured into a bowl-like area of ground that ponded six to eight feet deep and caused a serious threat to the Bobst family home at 8839 York Road.

When the grade level of the area was raised that "helped to displace the water," said Chris Harkness, Etna Township zoning administrator. It is thought that if intense rains hit now that any ponding would be about two feet deep and that should be manageable for the repaired ground and ditch to handle, he said.

But there still will have to be a ditch maintenance fee placed on the property taxes of home owners whose land drains into the watershed where the flooding problem first appeared.

The Etna trustees will submit a maintenance petition to the county commissioners to see money is set aside to control runoff and upkeep work already done by area residents.

The maintenance fee will be dramatically less than the $18,000 to $30,000 that would have been spent to upgrade and maintain the Zeller Ditch Improvement Project.

Read the full story on The Pataskala Standard website.