Resident decries driveway flooding and demands accountability for culvert siting

At the Royalton Selectboard meeting, a resident who the board and other participants identified as Dylan delivered sustained, critical comment about recent North Road work, saying new culverts and elevation changes had moved water onto private property and damaged driveways. "The job that is happening now is not what it's supposed to be ... It is not worth 2,500,000," Dylan said, urging the board to identify who is accountable for the results and to meet on site.

Town staff and the project presenter responded that most replaced culverts were put back in the locations shown on the plans and that, in several places, the underlying issue was long-standing plugged culverts and missing ditches. The presenter said the underdrain is functioning and that some affected outlets could be mitigated with stone outlets, headwalls or minor design tweaks within the town's right-of-way. The board agreed to arrange an on-site meeting (scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the lumber yard the next morning) to examine the specific problem spots and seek compromise solutions that avoid delaying pavement operations.

The exchange underscored a common construction tension: a functioning drainage system can disclose previously hidden flows, which can create new impacts on private property when old culverts and ditches change behavior. The engineer and staff emphasized landowner permission is required to alter outflow points off the right-of-way and suggested stone outlets and riprap where feasible within the contract scope.