So far, this has been the only solution offered by OCRC
White Lake, MI – The Oakland County Road Commission has done nothing to resolve a problem for residents on Lindholm Drive in White Lake Township. Susan Downey purchased her home in June of 2008.
There is a ditch with a catch basin that serves as a storm drain in front of several of the homes on Lindholm Street. At first there was no problem; the ditch stayed dry enough to cut the grass; even in the lowest spots. In the Fall of 2008 the ditch started holding water; it did not drain away. When Susan went to pay her property tax bill at the Township offices, she asked them who was responsible for maintaining the storm drain; they gave her the phone number to the Oakland County Road Commission.
After making several calls to the Oakland County Road Commission they finally came out in the spring of 2009. At this time, the ditch was full, the entire front yard was wet and spongy and the crawl space was flooded.
The Oakland County Road Commission put a hideous looking plastic orange fence around the center of the ditch. This led neighbors to believe they would be back soon to fix the problem.
Weeks later, Susan called the OCRC to follow up and she was told there was nothing they could do and to hope for a dry summer. Feeling she had reached a dead end with OCRC, she made a call to her County Commissioner, Jim Runestad, on June 22, 2009. He said he would call the Oakland County Road Commission to see what was going on.
Jim Runestad made some calls and kept in communication with Susan for the next few weeks; however, there was still no solution to the problem in sight. When they last spoke on July 1, 2009, the final answer seemed to be that the Oakland County Road Commission was under staffed and overwhelmed with roads to maintain with no funds to hire more people.
Susan and her neighbors continue to live with the problem as they look forward to (and dread at the same time) spring. “The ditch is full now that most of the snow has melted,” said Susan. “The weather forecast predicts rain for the next few days. Front yards and crawl spaces are sure to flood.”
Susan and her neighbors would like to know who to turn to for a solution to the problem. Is the OCRC responsible for the upkeep of the drainage system? If not, who is? Please visit Susan’s blog at http://oaklandcountyroadcommission.blogspot.com/
This pres release was submitted by Right Now Marketing Group, LLC
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
