County road work to help alleviate flooding

CDBG funds paying for most of the New Carlisle, Bethel Twp. repairs.

Work will begin soon on road and drainage projects in New Carlisle and Bethel Twp. that will help flooding problems in the area.

New Carlisle and Bethel Twp. were among four communities which sought $168,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds in 2014 for road projects. But Clark County could only submit a grant application for two communities due to the limited funds available.

New Carlisle received the largest share of CDBG funds with more than $80,000 for the second phase of a drainage improvement project that involves installing approximately 940 feet of curb and gutter and 470 feet of pavement along Prentice Drive.

The city must provide more than $91,000 in matching money for the $172,000 project, said David Fleck, Clark County Community Development grants coordinator.

Bethel Twp. received about $54,00 in CDBG funds, Fleck said. The township must provide the remaining $5,210 in matching money, he added.

The money will be used to install about 190 feet of curb and gutter, reconstruct two catch basins and replace 17 catch basins in Park Layne to reduce flooding problems in the area.

Fleck said the problems in Bethel Twp. are due to its aging infrastructure.

“Aging infrastructure comes with its set of problems,” he said. “With drainage, obviously, there’s water backups. With roads, there’s difficulty servicing the roads, general vehicular issues. Hopefully, we’re going to correct those and make transportation and water drainage more effective.”

Fleck said construction is expected to start in the next four weeks and should be completed this year.

Bethel Twp. Trustee Nancy Brown said the CDBG money is desperately needed in the township, which has to replace or repair 10 to 15 catch basins per year.

“They’re collapsing because of the age,” she said. “

They’re literally collapsing. In some cases, it blocks the pipes so the water can’t flow and drain.”

Brown said the township appreciated the grant money because it is short on money for road and other repairs.

“To replace even one catch basin is $1,200-$1,400. And when we have so many of them collapsing we’ve really struggled to keep up with them,” she said.

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