Published: May 19, 2009 01:17 am      

Water Street dry during recent floods

Dredging project may have eased watershed issues

MANNINGTON — Thanks to the completion of a floodplain control project along U.S. Route 250, Mannington’s Water Street stayed dry during the last series of major rainstorms.

Mannington Police Chief David James reported this news to council members Monday. He said that Water Street is usually one of the first streets that floods in heavy rain events, but that there was no flooding during the storms two weeks ago.

James recently attended a meeting of the Buffalo Valley Association, on which he serves as the treasurer. This organization monitors dams and watersheds in the northern end of the county and James said members talked about the effectiveness of this expansive dredging project near Farmington at its last meeting.

James explained that the project consisted of moving of about 100,000 cubic yards of dirt along the creek bed and helped flooding in the entire North Marion region.

“It helped from (Farmington) north,” James said. “The people in Farmington are happy with it. A lot of people who have had flooding in the past did not even have any high water (this time).”

The next step in continuing this effort will be a similar project in Rachel, followed by another one above Mannington in Beatty’s Bottom, James explained. He also said that once these projects are finished, all flooding at Hough Park, which frequently gets standing water when it rains significantly, should be completely eliminated.

In other business Monday, council members approved a lone insurance bid for the city from Commercial Insurance Services. Mayor Frank White said this is the same company that insured the city in past years and covers Mannington’s properties, general liability and automobiles.

The rate went up from more than $43,000 to more than $48,000, which was a less than 10-percent increase, White said. Council members also voted not to lower its liability limit, keeping it at $1 million, and voted against purchasing terrorism coverage.

City Clerk Michele Fluharty and another employee in the clerk’s office will also be formulating a list of property owners who are delinquent on police and fire fees.

This action was sparked by a request from a residential property owner who asked for city maintenance officials to remove a tree near the owner’s home. However, because this owner is delinquent on fire and police fees, the city is hesitant to do the work, White said.

“People ask the city to accommodate them with doing things and that’s fine,” he said. “However, if people don’t stay current with what they owe the city that affects our funding. We need people to stay current.”

White said the majority of the properties that are behind on these fees are dilapidated or uninhabited and the owners do not actually occupy them in most cases. Fluharty said the fees are $12 a month for both residential and commercial owners and that there are only about 10 owners who are delinquent.

Recently, the city cracked down on a number of business owners who were delinquent on their quarterly B&O taxes and White said the effort was effective. Now, besides maybe one or two owners, he said the city is completely up-to-date on these fees and he hopes that similar results will be rendered for the delinquent police and fire charges.

Also on Monday, council members held a budget work session before their meeting and discussed the city’s Meade and water funds. Council members subsequently voted during their meeting to use Meade funding to give $1,000 to the historical society, $750 to the cemetery fund, $5,000 to the gym foundation for work on the city community building, and $5,000 to the park board.

White also said that council needs to have a plan in place by July 4 to balance the Fiscal Year 2010 water budget, which is not balanced yet. He said council members discussed performing meter readings and mowing in-house to save $8,000 in the water fund and members voted to put an item on June’s agenda to discuss an upcoming rate increase.

E-mail Mallory Panuska at mpanuska@timeswv.com.