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New roads, if not water, running smoothly in Edgelea
After a major repaving project earlier this year, the roads in Edgelea subdivision have never been smoother. They may in fact be too smooth.
At the Monday meeting of the Putnam County Commissioners, Edgelea resident and Putnam County Auditor Lorie Hallett told the story of the high speeds one motorist recently reached on the subdivision's main street.
"A state trooper who lives in the area stopped somebody for doing 70 (m.p.h.) on Edgelea Drive," Hallett told the commissioners and audience.
The speed limit on Edgelea Drive is 30 m.p.h., meaning the smooth, new street was likely the road to a big, fat fine for the driver.
The bottom line, several Edgelea residents told the commissioners, is the repaving portion of the $1.5 million project yielded great results. However, it is the accompanying drainage work that leaves something to be desired.
The Edgelea discussion began with a project update and overview from Laurie Christie and Kempis Wilkerson of DLZ Corp., the firm overseeing the project for the county.
Wilkerson reported that all originally contracted work has been completed, with a surplus of approximately $50,000 remaining in the project budget.
Five additional construction items have come in that need to be added at a total cost of $27,579.91, still within the original budget.
Two of these items, an additional manhole and rock excavation, were previously approved by commissioners.
The remaining three are yet to be completed. Two of them involve curb removal and subsequent replacement on Hilltop Lane. This $4,700 project should go fairly easily, with no objection from neighbors getting new, improved curbs.
The final item, however, is a topic of some contention.
As currently constructed, water that runs to the downhill (north) end of Country Club Lane goes across the grass and into the adjacent agricultural field.
Recent rains have washed out the area, forcing DLZ to reexamine its drainage plan in that spot.
Wilkerson presented a plan to install riprap at the end of the street with an earth berm on the far side of the rock, with the idea of dissipating the flow of water from both Country Club and Hilltop before it flows into the field's grass waterway.
Additionally, a grate will be installed in the manhole at the street's end to accommodate whatever water it can.
David Taylor, who owns the house directly adjacent to the problem area, objected to the plan.
"The water coming down there is unbelievable," Taylor said. "The waterway is there for the field, not for the subdivision. That water should be taken underground."
He added that he did not want to have his kids having to climb across the riprap to retrieve runaway basketballs.
And, although he did not mention it, the proximity of the house means that the large, coarse rock would be one of the main sights when looking out the front window of the Taylor home.
Taylor proposed that some sort of paved structure be installed to funnel the water into the existing drainage system, while still allowing the farmer his only access point to the field.
Other Edgelea residents, including Gary Barcus, Nick Mourouzis and Hallett, discussed some other problem areas. These included Fairway Drive as well as the convergence of Hilltop Lane, Wildwood Drive and Sandalwood Drive.
The residents present allowed that not all drainage issues were going to be fixed within the scope of this project. However, they all said they would like to make sure the system is functioning in places where work was performed.
Commissioner Max Watts set up a meeting involving himself, Wilkerson and any interested residents shortly after Monday's commissioners meeting. In this way, a dialog could be opened about the issues and ways to address them.
Additionally, county attorney Jim Ensley suggested that Barcus, Rick Bittles and Donna Bouslog, the Edgelea committee that oversaw the project, meet to discuss any lingering issues.
With the residents of Edgelea having to pay 75 percent of the cost of the project over the next 20 years, all interested parties want to make sure they are satisfied before the project is considered complete.
And even with the lingering drainage issues, the concerned citizens wished not to sound ungrateful for the improved roads.
"All that said," Hallett concluded, "it's still better than it was."
"The pavement is great, don't get me wrong," Mourouzis said. "We even have speeders."