Flooding issues arise again

Seven months after the summer’s last big flood, the topic is still coming up in new ways at county drainage board meetings.
This time, Oakwood Mobile Home Court was under discussion.
It’s been “flooding on almost an annual basis since 2011,” said John Moore, a Jay County resident who volunteered there with the Red Cross during flooding last summer.
Out of about 100 mobile homes, 35 were affected by flooding in July, Moore said.
“The water mostly got under the mobile homes, not so much inside, but the damage then was to the under skirting and the insulation,” he said. “And then of course some of the floors got wet, so now in some of these units the floors are not exactly level.”
Several pets drowned in the flood as well, he said.
“It’s flooded several times and I think we’ve been very fortunate, as has the city of Portland, that there hasn’t been any significant injury as far as people are concerned,” Moore said.
It seems to be flooding more often, he said, and some residents have a theory about why.
“A lot of people have anecdotally, unofficially, not based on any scientific evidence believe that the old railroad bed, railroad right-of-way that goes up north out of town” might be part of the problem, no longer acting as the dam it once did.
County surveyor Brad Daniels confirmed the railroad bed was cut when a gas line was installed north of Oakwood in the late 1980s.
“We went back and re-established the railroad bed,” Daniels said. “And then it’s still been an issue since then.”
A tile in the northwest corner of the park seems to be a problem, Daniels said.
“Water will be down everywhere, and that one area of the trailer court still sits with water in it,” he said.
He recommended having it televised to see where it might have a problem.
Moore had hoped Oakwood’s manager, Ruby Compo, could attend the meeting as well, but she could not.
Daniels said he will get in touch with her.
As the county commissioners, Faron Parr and Doug Inman:
•Signed an ordinance about holiday pay, leave and overtime for employees of Jay Emergency Medical Service and Jay County Sheriff’s Office. Provisions include straight time holiday pay based on the number of hours usually worked in a shift, 24 hours of holiday time per quarter for JEMS employees, 21 or 24 hours of leave for full-time employees working 35 or 40-hour weeks, seven or eight hours of sick leave earned each month and JEMS overtime pay at time and a half.
•Heard from JEMS director Pat Frazee a buyer offered $2,903 for an old ambulance and accepted that offer. Lights, sirens, identifications for Jay County and other items will be removed. The commissioners directed Frazee to keep any items that could be used as spares for other ambulances and sell the rest.
•Learned Sheriff Dwane Ford has received four quotes on a new Dodge Durango for the sheriff’s office. He will return to the commissioners March 7 with a recommendation.
•Discussed Knox Township’s change in fire coverage. Ford pointed out trucks from Redkey Fire Department, which now covers the southern part of the township, have to drive past Dunkirk Fire Department to get there. Ford is reluctant to have dispatchers send Redkey in case a liability issue arises.
“I’m not sure (Knox Township trustee Joe Gutshall) fully understood what the issue was,” county attorney Bill Hinkle said. “They obviously need to be contracted with Dunkirk.”
Gutshall and township board members board members Alan Peterson, Eva Rinker and Mike Shrack rejected a renewal with Dunkirk over an increase of $68.05 and a new clause about a $200 fee for responding to structure fires when the owner doesn’t have insurance.