BY ALICIA DORSET
Clarkston News Staff Writer
A growing ditch is the cause of frustration for property owner Carole Overall and the Road Commission for Oakland County as an ongoing battle for repairs continues.
For the past seven years, Overall has watched the ditch at the bottom of her property in Davisburg continue to grow and become a greater safety problem for drivers who pass her house.
‘It’s very disturbing,? Overall said. ‘The ditch takes the focus away from our yard and our little stone house.?
The ditch was a result of a long-standing runoff problem. Overall’s 1929 stone cottage sits on top of a large hill on Big Lake Road. When heavy rainfall occurs, the rainwater collects at the bottom of the property, causing compiled soil erosion that continues to worsen over time.
‘There’s been a tremendous washout problem there for quite some time,? Tom Meszler, RCOC Highway Maintenance, said.
Currently a cross tube, installed by the RCOC, is located in the ditch to try and help with the erosion problem. The velocity that the water moves at continues to be an ongoing challenge for Meszler and crews. Overall believes that an additional tube, to redirect the water across the road, is needed to fix the problem once and for all.
Over the years, the RCOC responded to the problem as the ditch’s condition worsened. The ditch has been widened in an attempt to correct the erosion problems. Stone dams were added in an attempt to slow the water’s velocity and the rate that the ditch expands. Black top was added over the cross tube to level out the four-foot-deep hole.
According to Overall, the dams and ditch widening have done nothing but create an unattractive eyesore at the bottom of her property.
‘You can imagine our shock, great disappointment and crying, on my part, when we discovered this horrible, ugly black monster of a ditch which we have to live with until you fix it,? Overall stated in a July 2003 letter to Meszler.
She is concerned that repairs similar to these will do nothing but lower her property’s value.
‘We offered to extend the ditch,? Meszler said. ‘Another pipe will not pick up the water. You can’t collect water under black top.?
Overall believes that the RCOC is ignoring her continued requests for the black top to be removed and the ditch corrected once and for all.
She and her husband have spoken with attorneys about the matter, but have not pursued a legal course of action any further.
‘We’re senior citizens on Social Security,? Overall said. ‘We didn’t want to go through the heartache.?
Overall sent a letter to Meszler in July 2003 requesting that the black top be removed so the additional pipe could be added.
Meszler followed up with Overall’s husband, but no further contacts have been made since that time.
According to Meszler, everything that has been able to be done with the ditch has been.
‘Nothing else would work better,? Meszler said. ‘You can’t remove the ditch.?
In addition to the ditch’s aesthetic problems, Overall is concerned about the safety of drivers passing by her property.
According to her, a minimum of three cars end up in the ditch each winter since the black top is covered by snow and is misleading.
‘My only concern is that someone coming around the corner, in summer or winter, could get really hurt,? Frank Prudhomme, Overall’s nextdoor neighbor, said.
Meszler believes it is very feasible that cars might end up in the ditch, but attributes it to the L-shaped road that drivers must maneuver around when passing Overall’s property.
So far this winter, one car has slid off into the ditch and had be towed out.
The various debates over the ditch maintenance is just part of an overall problem dealing with the RCOC, according to Prudhomme.
?’Nothing we can do? is the standard comment,? Prudhomme said. He has lived on Big Lake Road for 19 years and himself dealt with the RCOC over proposed right-of-ways the county wanted at one point.
‘For the taxes we’re paying out here, we’re not getting anything,? Prudhomme said. ‘We pay taxes for them to use.?
Meszler believes that appropriate help has been extended to the Overalls.
‘We’re not picking on her,? Meszler said. ‘We’re impacted just as much as she it. We can’t remove the ditch, but we’re trying to deal with the problem.?
Overall maintains her crusade to have the ditch fixed for the last time.
She has vowed to give a copy of the letter she wrote Meszler for help to every driver that ends up in her ditch so that they, too, might help end the debate once and for all.
‘They’re (RCOC) the big giant and I’m just the little guy,? Overall said.