Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509150058
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Curb and gutter construction may seem a routine municipal chore, but its handling affects citizens more directly than any number of more glamorous Town Council activities.
Council's Public Operations Committee spent some 90 minutes Thursday morning reviewing suggested amendments to the town's drainage ordinances. The goal is to find more staff flexibility in extending drainage facilities to areas where they are needed or fixing those that have deteriorated.
"The problems didn't develop overnight, and they can't be solved overnight," committee Chairwoman Alma Holston said.
"We know we've got a big project on our hands," said Town Manager Tom Combiths. "I would say, though, that we're going to need the patience of the citizens ... but I think we do have a good plan."
The town received hundreds of drainage complaints this summer, most of them involving washed-out driveways. There are individual cases of people getting water in their homes from drainage runoff, and their repeated complaints are getting to some of the elected officials.
One suggested change would be to allow some piecemeal fixes where individual problems exist. Right now, regulations require that town employees do curb and gutter for an entire block at a time and that requires getting approval from all of the people living on that block to pay their 50 percent share of the cost.
If a resident is elderly or on a fixed income and cannot afford the 50 percent cost, provisions exist for payments to be drawn out or delayed.
Another suggested ordinance change, though, would make the drainage work similar to the policy for water and sewer extensions. When those are included in the town's capital improvements projects list, the town pays the entire cost.
Some individual cases defy individual solutions. Putting a curb in front of a house with water drainage problems would simply redirect that drainage onto neighboring properties, Town Attorney Frank Terwilliger explained.
Parts of town which have asphalt curbs are finding that water problems have returned to their neighborhoods. Asphalt curbs "don't last very long, and when you hit 'em with a snowplow, they're gone. They're a temporary fix in any case," Terwilliger said.
Once the town launches an effort on curb and gutter construction or repair, said Councilman Roy D'Ardenne, it can expect more citizen to request fixes. It may be necessary to contract out some of the work, because the town has a limited public works crews to handle all the problems, he said.
by CNB