STARKVILLE — The Sunset subdivision west of Starkville has been flood-prone for decades.
Residents there say heavy rains have flooded yards, culverts and homes as far back as the early 1970s.
Friday was no exception.
As thunderstorms ripped through the Golden Triangle Friday afternoon, culverts throughout the approximately 300-home subdivision overflowed, yards flooded and residents once again grew fed up with the lack of drainage in their community.
“I”m very concerned about this,” Chisholm Drive resident Bobby Bardwell said as water approached his front door. “And it”s only getting worse.”
The culverts and front yards of Arnold Drive also were flooded. Arnold Drive resident Rich Williams said it happens “every time this kind of rain comes.”
Bardwell has been attending Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors” meetings since last year in an attempt to get the county to improve the culverts and drainage systems in the Sunset subdivision. As he observed his neighbors” yards fill with water Friday afternoon, his frustration only grew.
“We aren”t coming up there to these supervisors” meetings just to be there,” Bardwell said. “It”s really in bad shape over here.”
A culvert and drainage improvement project would cost an estimated $1.5 million, County Administrator Don Posey has said.
Golden Triangle Planning and Development District project analyst Phyllis Benson has worked with Bardwell for the past six months in pursuit of a Community Development Block Grant on the county”s behalf for the improvement project. According to Benson, as much as $650,000 could be available.
The first step in applying for CDBG funds is a door-to-door survey of Sunset residents, which Bardwell began last fall and continued through the winter and spring. At least 51 percent of Sunset residents must be in the low-to-moderate income level for the county to qualify for the CDBG funds, Benson said.
Bardwell said he completed surveys of about 100 homes in the subdivision, but still has a ways to go. Some residents, however, have been unwilling to participate in the surveys, he said, which only delays the CDBG application process.
Williams thinks the county should conduct the survey, not Bardwell and other Sunset residents.
“We shouldn”t have to go out and do that work for them,” Williams said.
“We”re taxpayers, too,” Bardwell said. “And what do we get?”
To make the development”s case stronger for CDBG funds, residents should write letters, submit copies of insurance claims for any damage caused by flooding, send in photos and other items which would give the county a strong case for CDBG funds.
The Appalachian Regional Commission also might have funds available, Benson has said.
Bardwell would like to see the entire community”s culverts and drainage systems improved, no matter what it takes.
“All of it needs fixing,” he said. “Every single bit of it.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
