Landowner protests Fortieth Road culvert work; road director says culvert replaced after failure and crews will adjust flows

Resident Carol Smith told the Neosho County Board of Commissioners on June 3 that crews replaced a culvert under Fortieth Road and that the work has created standing water and a new flow across her pasture. She said she had not been contacted before the work and complained that rock and grading placed near her gate have left standing water and damaged hay.

Smith said she was first notified on May 26 that her fence was down. She said crews installed a new culvert that she believes has altered the watercourse and resulted in one bale of hay lost to saturation. “I am not gonna have a waterway going through my field,” she told commissioners, and said she would pursue the matter further if necessary.

Road and Bridge Director Mike responded during the meeting that the county replaced an old concrete culvert that had failed under Fortieth Road and that, in years past, the culvert had been set at an angle to convey water across the pasture before reaching the pond. He said county operators reopened the downstream side of the new culvert and that the replacement had prevented further erosion of the road. Mike said staff had met with Smith previously and that he understood she had been agreeable to placing larger rock (riprap) to stabilize the water path but later changed her mind after subsequent rains.

“We as she stated, Kobe and I met with her… this culvert has been under Fortieth Road for a very long time,” Mike said. He explained the historical purpose of the angled culvert was to remove water from the roadway before a steep section that had eroded in the past. He said crews would likely remove the angled culvert and divert water down the ditch if the landowner will not permit rock placement across her field, and the county will attempt to control resulting erosion where possible.

The Road & Bridge director also gave commissioners updates on several bridge projects and emergency repairs: a River Bridge project is progressing with center-section decking and a planned night pour; the Canville Creek/Bridge work north of 200th was a higher-priority repair that required equipment and manpower, delaying other half-tank culvert work; the Flat Rock Creek bridge needs cleaning of driftwood and a large log; and a FEMA appeal over the Old River Bridge south of Erie had been denied and would be appealed again with possible legal assistance.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to inspect Smith’s site and coordinate mitigation; Road & Bridge said it would either rework the culvert alignment to ditch flow away from the field or move the culvert if necessary, and staff will continue to pursue FEMA and bridge-replacement work on other damaged bridges.