Drainage continues to be an issue

Like clockwork every spring and summer, a heavy rain or hailstorm hits Custer. And, like clockwork, shortly thereafter, county resident Dan Trana appears before the Custer County Commission imploring the county to do something—anything—to alleviate the flooding problems that plague the Harbach Lane part of the county.

At the June 20 meeting of the commission, Trana said he met with officials from the City of Custer about the issue and said the city has a disaster mitigation grant it has qualified for that will help study French Creek drainage throughout town, as well as ways to alleviate problem spots along the creek. However, he was told that process could take over a year, and he again asked the county what could be done until then. He said the creek continues to be plugged up by silt and is being forced to try to flow uphill. The result is flooding in the area every time there is a significant rainfall, which in turn causes property damage for some in the area.

Commission chairman Travis Bies said it was his recollection the county was going to do what it could to fix the problem in county right-of-way, and asked county highway superintendent Gary Woodford if anything had been done on that front. Woodford said anything done solely in county right-of-way would be nothing more than a Band-Aid and would not solve the problem. He said most of the problem is in areas the county can’t reach with its equipment from its right-of-way. He said there is silt and vegetation in areas the equipment could not reach.

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