After years of waiting, Ingram Street may finally get its new pipes.

The Wadesboro town council unanimously voted to allow Alex Sewell, the town’s manager, to send a letter of interest to the state regarding a FEMA hazard mitigation grant.

Sewell said that David Harrington, a resident on Ingram Street, had collected signatures on a petition asking for the help to install new pipes.

Harrington first approached the council about having the pipes fixed on Nov. 5, 2012. While he doesn’t make every meeting, he attends many of them to ask that the council remembers the problem.

According to Harrington, the pipes along the street intended to channel rainwater were installed in pieces, leaving uncovered portions that lead to flooding. Harrington’s yard sometimes floods to within a few feet of his house. In 2014, he told the Anson Record that the water had eroded both private property and dirt along the roadside.

He’s more concerned about safety issues than property values, and has told the council that he fears a child could be harmed.

“You know how children will be outside playing and like to play in water,” he told the Record in 2014. “If one of them falls into that ditch water after it’s rained, they could get caught in there.”

At that time, Harrington said the problem had been there for at least 20 years. Other residents of the street have also approached the council within the last few years.

The town obtained an estimate on Sept. 16, 2013 to install a culvert on the street. The total was $101,500, and included $17,000 for 480 feet. of pipe, $70,000 for six catch basins, $1,500 for 50 tons of stone, $1,000 for rip-rap stone, $30,000 for asphalt replacement and $45,000 for labor. The total exceeded the town’s $70,000 street maintenance and repair budget for that year.

That estimate is three-and-a-half years old, and the numbers have changed. With permitting, an allowance for contingencies, engineering design and other costs, the letter of interest written by Sewell estimates that the project will require $548,200.

“Stormwater path funnels down to this area,” the letter said. “Homes are very close to the road with deep ditches close to road/homes and can handle minor rains no problem, but history has shown ditches could be insufficient to handle heaviest rains. Also, deep ditches create safety issues for vehicles and pedestrians (community is especially concerned about safety).”

The funding would be used to install a drainage line behind the homes on Ingram Street, add pipes to the ditches, widen the road and add a curb and gutter, according to the letter.

The letter of interest is due to the hazard mitigation branch by May 1. The top applicants will be selected on June 19 to work with North Carolina Emergency Management-Hazard Mitigation staff on a first draft of the grant application. The final draft of the application with additions from hazard mitigation representatives will be due to the state to submit to FEMA on Aug. 25.

Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.

For the Record This undated photo was provided to the Anson Record by David Harrington in 2014. With pipes only stretching for part of the length of the road, water floods Ingram Street and the surrounding area, eroding the side of the road and yards, Harrington said. Here, the earth around the mailbox has been washed away.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Ingram-Street-2-2-.jpgFor the Record This undated photo was provided to the Anson Record by David Harrington in 2014. With pipes only stretching for part of the length of the road, water floods Ingram Street and the surrounding area, eroding the side of the road and yards, Harrington said. Here, the earth around the mailbox has been washed away.

By Imari Scarbrough

iscarbrough@civitasmedia.com