Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Drainage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents, church leaders press Adams County over erosion and drainage on Morgantown Road; engineer recommends berms and grassing
Summary
Church leaders and residents told supervisors stormwater has been diverting onto private church property on Morgantown Road, eroding a cemetery; county staff and an engineer recommended berms and grading and said federal programs (NRCS/EWP/USDA) may be needed but county legal limits and private-property rules constrain immediate action.
Pastors and residents urged the Adams County Board of Supervisors to intervene after years of runoff and erosion that speakers said is now damaging graves and private property along Morgantown Road.
Pastor Gregory Watkins described deepening erosion at the rear of his church property and a cemetery, saying “graves are breaking up” and that water from multiple directions is “pouring in like a river” across the church yard. He presented photos and video he said showed active flow and damage during storms.
County road staff and the county engineer described site visits and provided technical recommendations. The engineer (Jordan) told the board the most visible erosion occurs at the back left side of the church and recommended installing a berm at the rear of the church to intercept flow and channel it into an existing chamber; he also recommended regrading, compacting fill, and establishing grass cover on disturbed soil. “If you don’t grass it when it rains, that soil is going to move,” the engineer said.
Road department staff told the board they had installed pipes and temporary measures in past years at the request of property owners, and they acknowledged the area faces multiple contributing flows, including drainage from the opposite side of the road and possible connections to a city-owned lift station. County staff said they cannot dump public funds on private property except where statutes or grant programs authorize it; they discussed coordinating with USDA and NRCS and applying for Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) funds for larger measures.
Supervisor members said the county previously voted at a past meeting to stabilize the rear of the graveyard where allowed by law and that legal limits—county responsibility for 25 feet from the road centerline and other statutory limits—constrain the county’s ability to take certain actions on private land. The board and staff agreed to receive Pastor Watkins’s video and have the engineer re-evaluate the site with the footage to determine feasible, legally authorized steps. The staff direction given at the meeting was to transmit the video to the engineer for further assessment and to report recommended next steps to the board.
Why it matters: Speakers said active erosion has reached marked features such as gravestones and could threaten utilities and property access. The issue involves multiple property owners and agencies (city, county, private landowners, USDA/NRCS), so solutions require interagency coordination and may take weeks or months to implement under grant or statutory processes.
What’s next: County staff will receive the video and the engineer will reassess and report back with design options and legal constraints; supervisors discussed a phased approach using berms and regrading as a first step and seeking federal assistance for larger fixes.
