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Water running from road brings plea from resident
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - November 29, 2010)
Water running from road brings plea from resident
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township Trustees are consulting with the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office on whether township money can be spent on private property.
The issue arose last week as resident Ken Murray asked what could be done to alleviate water runoff from a steep grade along Clark Road, just east of Ravenna Road. Trees along a hillside on Mr. Murray's property at 11955 Clark Road have been killed because of the water running off the road onto his property, he said.
Trustee Michael Brown, who is related to Mr. Murray by marriage, said he has known about the issue for years but has been reluctant to act because of his relationship.
Mr. Brown said the property formerly was owned by township Road Superintendent William Baumgartner, and water was diverted through a ditch onto the property now owned by Mr. Murray. He said that diversion occurred as many as 30 years ago and has created a problem.
Last month, Mr. Brown, Mr. Murray, township Road Superintendent Donald Mohney and Geauga County Engineer Bob Phillips met at Mr. Murray's property to discuss the issue and look at possible remedies. Mr. Brown said it was decided that extending the ditch and installing a culvert pipe under his drive could solve the problem.
Mr. Brown said it is the township's responsibility to handle roadside drainage and asked whether the township could extend the ditch and place a 12-inch culvert under Mr. Murray's driveway.
However, Trustee Steven Borawski said the township has no authority to work outside the public right of way. "It is not the township's responsibility to go off the right of way to fix private water issues," he said.
He said the issue possibly could have been handled within the right of way if recent repaving work had been done as anticipated. However, he said, an error in the application for funding prevented that work from being done.
The township had applied for state infrastructure funds for the repaving work and it was to include checking and replacing culverts in the area, he said. However, the culvert work was omitted from the application and that work had to be handled by township funds, he said.
Mr. Borawski said that had the state funding included the culvert work, the township could have handled Mr. Murray's problem by installing a culvert under the road and directing the water to a ditch on the other side of the road from his property.
Mr. Borawski said if he could help a resident while keeping the work in the right of way, he would have no problem. But, he said, this work would involved going approximately 30 feet off the right of way onto private property.
Mr. Borawski said the township already attempted to improve the situation for Mr. Murray by diverting water from one point to another along the road, but the problem has persisted.
He said there is already a culvert under Mr. Murray's driveway, but it will need to be up-sized to handle the runoff. Mr. Borawski said that is Mr. Murray's responsibility, not the township's.
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