By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Town of Davis has agreed to repair damage caused by town workers in two separate incidents. Riverwalk Developer Pete Johnson addressed the Town of Davis Council during the Council’s March 13th meeting. Mayor Al Tomson agreed to have the damage repaired and that the Town and the Riverwalk HOA would work together in the future on civic projects.
Johnson read from a letter he had supplied to the Town regarding two incidents in the project property. The letter dated March 12 described incidents regarding a fire hydrant and the removal of fencing and fence posts in the Riverwalk project area.
According to Johnson, the first incident occurred late on the night of February 26th when Town workers opened a fire hydrant valve on Riverwalk Place. Johnson said that the hydrant was flushed for several hours directly onto a utility cluster for one of the lots and within 25 feet of a new home. “The result was the severe rutting out of our gravel water access road and significant runoff directly into the Blackwater River,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the damage was caused by the Town’s failure to use a hose to direct the flow to a nearby storm drain. “Failing to use a hose directed to the storm system impacted Riverwalk owners, damaged HOA roadway, and would necessarily have involved WV DEP due to the runoff pollution,” Johnson said.
Johnson requested that in the future, the Town use a hose to direct the flow to a nearby storm strain when flushing the hydrant in the area. Johnson further suggested that the Town moderate the water volume to minimize any environmental or other impact to the development area.
Tomson said that the matter would be addressed immediately and the Town would fix the road. Tomson also assured Johnson that it would not happen again. “We need to fix the roadway,” Tomson said. “We will do that.”
According to Johnson, the second incident occurred within days of the first when Town workers removed several fence posts and rails in a newly erected split rail fence. Johnson also noted that the previous week random waste materials were left at one of the lots. “While there is no doubt a practical reason for this, no request or alert was made regarding this action,” Johnson said.
Johnson said access and permission would have been granted if asked. “This type of action by the Town requires owner authorization, which would have been happily granted in this case, and would of course require restoration to its original condition,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that he requested that the Town contact the HOA or property owners before conducting work that would impact or damage the properties in the development and that any damage be restored to its original condition upon completion of the work. “We appreciate the hard work undertaken by the Town to provide water and other services,” Johnson said.
The incident, according to the Town, was related to replacing a 20 foot section of pipe in the area, but were going to replace the fence when completed. Tomson assured Johnson that the Town would seek permission in the future prior to completing work in the area. “We will ask next time,” Tomson said. “Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I didn’t know.”
Both Johnson and Tomson thanked the other parties for their cooperation and communication on the matter.
The Town of Davis Council meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Davis Town Hall.
