Resident urges county to address repeated flooding near Cross Street; board says culvert work and upstream coordination needed

At the Aug. 4 meeting, resident Ken Norman presented photographs and asked what the county is doing about repeated flooding near Cross Street where Sarver (referred to in parts of the meeting as Solder or Sarver) Ditch runs under the highway. Ken Norman said his property sits within the flood zone on the ditch and showed photos of standing water and the culvert under the highway nearly submerged. "This is the culvert I was talking about right there," he said while presenting images of the access road to a trailer park with about 10 inches of water. Board members said they are replacing a nearby culvert and working on bridge improvements that should help flow. A county speaker said the bridge work south of the trailer park "is gonna help. That's gonna get out a little quicker," and acknowledged the existing culvert is undersized. Norman said flooding frequency has increased since 2008 after development at the Grand Valley shopping center and other new pavement upstream, which he said routes concentrated runoff into the Solder/Sarver watershed. Board members said the county did not permit those city projects and is trying to obtain plans and work with the city and developers to identify retrofits. The board said it will try to open the culvert and adjust crossings where possible; members noted some actions are limited because portions of the affected right of way and drainage design were permitted by the City of Martinsville. Board members suggested sending legal notices to obtain retention-pond diagrams and maintenance plans from developers if needed. Norman also asked about weed control in the ditch; county staff said they spray woody vegetation and will re-spray if necessary, but they want grass to establish in some areas. The board said it will follow up with Norman on photos and next steps.