CROTHERSVILLE
How frequent has stormwater damaged your home?
How many inches of rainfall does it take to cause flooding?
How long does it take for the stormwater to subside?
What damage has stormwater caused, how much did repairs cost and did you submit insurance claims?
Those questions are being asked of Crothersville residents to help the town receive a stormwater improvement grant to alleviate drainage and flooding issues.
Residents may submit letters, fill out a survey and submit photos of flooding or damage, which will be included in the application for Community Development Block Grant funding from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
Responses are needed by Saturday so Trena Carter with Administrative Resources association can include them with the grant application, which is due Oct. 14.
The survey can be filled out online at surveymonkey.com/r/Crothersville-storm-water or by stopping by Crothersville Town Hall during regular business hours and filling out a paper survey. Pictures may be placed in an envelope with name and address included and dropped off at town hall.
So far, one letter has been turned in, and 39 surveys have been completed online.
“Every survey helps, so hopefully we’ll get a few more before the end of the weekend,” Carter said.
The grant funding would allow for three new culverts to be placed over Hominy Ditch at Bethany Road, Park Avenue and Kovener Street and the rehabilitation of Hominy Ditch from Kovener Street to the Crothersville Wastewater Treatment Plant outfall.
The culverts would be upsized, and the ditch, which carries 80 percent of the water through town, would be cleared of debris.
“That will help increase the flow or the capacity of the ditch to allow water to get away quicker,” Carter said. “The enlargement or the upsizing of the culverts will allow for less backflow or backup from the large volume of water that is causing some of the flooding in that area.”
There would be a 20-foot easement for the clearing of the ditch.
“That does not mean that they will take that full amount. It doesn’t mean that’s how far they are going,” Carter said. “That is the easement, and they have to work with that easement. A lot of times, you have a 10-foot easement and then an additional 10 feet to allow you to ingress and egress.”
Carter recently conducted the second and final public hearing to give residents a chance to learn about the grant, share information about how stormwater improvements could help them and ask questions. The first public hearing was in August before the letter of intent was submitted.
The grant will be awarded in the first part of December. Carter said three to five grants could be awarded, depending on the amount requested and funds availability.
Crothersville is requesting $500,000 in grant funding. If it’s one of the recipients, the town would have to provide $63,700 as a local match, and construction of the culverts would begin in the spring with ditch rehabilitation to follow.
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Crothersville is applying for a stormwater improvement grant.
As part of the application process, two highly important questions must be answered: “What is the impact to residents?” and “What residential issues are currently being experienced or have been experienced in the past three to five years?”
The best way to show the impact to residents regarding the impact and need for this project includes letters and photos from the residents. The letters may be handwritten or typed and will be most helpful if each resident spells out the issues they have suffered through, including the expenses paid in the past three to five years to address those issues.
Paper surveys also may be filled out and photos may be dropped off at Crothersville Town Hall, 111 E. Howard St., by Friday. Surveys also can be filled out online at surveymonkey.com/r/Crothersville-storm-water by Saturday.
Anyone with questions may contact Trena Carter, the town’s grant writer and consultant, at 812-376-9949.
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