Commissioner Kendrick Thomas gave an update to the Wagram Board of Commissioners following a complaint from a resident about standing water in her yard.
Seeks cause of standing water on Nazareth Church Road
WAGRAM — Standing water on a Nazareth Church Road property prompted impassioned discussion by the Wagram commissioners on what is the town’s responsibility and what is not.
During the regular business meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Kendrick Thomas gave an update following a complaint from a resident about standing water in her yard.
“I personally went myself to an assessment on that project and I met with the residents where the water was standing pooled in front of her house,” Thomas said. “She was excited that someone had finally addressed the issue. I told her we were going to do our best to go ahead and get that corrected as soon as we could.”
Thomas said he discovered that the cause of the flooding was due to water draining from the town’s lift station.
“I told her as soon as we could we would get that taken care of where water would properly drain,” Thomas said.
The commissioner said he knows that the town does not typically work on private property but her yard “pretty much is a road right-of-way.”
In response, Commissioner Robert McLaughlin told fellow members he’s been on the board for 24 years and the town has never interfered with private properties. The commissioner said he too drove to the property, took photos and does not believe the flooding is the town’s fault.
“The water to me is not coming from the lift station … Before we go down there and start digging and hauling dirt down there, we need to know who owns this property … Whoever owns [Jubilee Christian Center of Wagram], that little right-of-way to get to that lift station, then they need to take care of that,” McLaughlin said.
When hurricanes Florence and Matthew came through, there were a lot of people complaining about water in their yards, according to McLaughlin. Those people. he said, were told that the town could not go onto private property.
“If you do this one, you gotta do that one … That’s the problem I got with that. I don’t believe in going on private property doing anything for citizens,” McLaughlin said.
Town Attorney Jerry Bruner said that the town has to be careful about interfering with private property owners who may naturally live in low-lying areas prone to flooding.
“If there are issues with somebody’s private property, that’s their problem. If it’s something of our property that’s causing an issue then that may need to be addressed if we’re contributing to it,” the attorney said.
Mayor Barbara Pierce suggested getting an outside party to conduct their own assessment before the town makes any decision.
“I’m all for making sure we do things the right way,” Thomas said.