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Owner says abandoned drain tile floods rental basements; commission offers to facilitate further review
Summary
A local business owner reported continuous basement flooding tied to an abandoned storm drain tile and asked the county for help identifying the water source. Commissioners said the matter falls largely under floodplain rules and offered to facilitate meetings with relevant parties and state agencies.
Chad Matheny, a county resident and local business owner, told the Monongalia County Commission on May 28 that two of his rental properties have been repeatedly flooded for more than two years by water entering from an old, silted storm drain tile on his property.
“I have a 3 inch trash pump that pumps over 200 gallons a minute. It pumped for approximately 6 hours till it got caught up with the incoming water,” Matheny said during public comment, describing continuous pumping to keep basements clear. “So based on that, I feel there's approximately 200 gallon per minute of water coming out of this old drain tile.”
Matheny said the pipe appears to be about 20 inches in diameter and that he documented inflow from both sides of the tile. He told commissioners he had applied for a permit from the county floodplain coordinator to excavate and inspect the line and asked what his next step should be after county staff did a site visit.
Commissioners and staff said the county’s authority is limited in private-property drainage disputes but that the commission had previously facilitated site meetings and outreach. “We don't have any jurisdiction over private lands as far as drainage goes,” one commissioner said. The meeting record shows the commission offered to follow up with the county floodplain coordinator and to contact state agencies (the transcript refers to “DOH” and “State Road”) that might have information or jurisdiction over roadside drainage.
Commissioners noted the county’s floodplain ordinance constrains what work can be done in a flood zone and that solutions often require coordination among private landowners, the floodplain coordinator and state agencies. The commission said staff had previously visited the site, and the county is willing to bring interested parties together for further discussion; no formal county-funded remediation or directive was approved at the meeting.
Matheny asked whether he could temporarily plug the pipe and warned that doing so might shift the problem to other property owners. He said he had replaced furnaces and water heaters and was pumping basements “24/7,” and asked for a reliable point of contact when the floodplain coordinator is unavailable. Commissioners said they would follow up to identify alternatives and to contact the floodplain coordinator’s supervisor if necessary.
Why this matters: Matheny reported repeated, costly property damage and urgent repair needs tied to an apparent abandoned drainage tile. The county indicated it can facilitate coordination but has limited authority to order private drainage repairs; floodplain regulations and possible state agency involvement were cited as relevant frameworks.
Next steps: Commissioners said they would follow up with the floodplain coordinator and attempt to engage state road/highway officials and other neighbors to identify the origin of the flow and potential remediation steps. Matheny said he is prepared to participate in remedial work but cannot fund large-scale pipe replacement alone.
