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Officials tour Millboro to see flood damage
BY GINA HAMILTON • CONTRIBUTING WRITER
 | | This culvert on Lower Yard and Huffman roads in Millboro is deemed too small to handle runoff from Cabin Creek during periods of heavy rain. (Recorder photo by Gina Hamilton) |
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MILLBORO - A lack of adequate drainage from Cabin Creek on Lower Yard Road during periods of heavy rain is causing worry and frustration with repeated flooding that affects residents here, as well as the Buckingham Branch Railroad Co.
Last Thursday, officials from Bath County, the state, and railroad met with residents to begin efforts toward finding a permanent solution to the repeated flooding. They conducted a site walk along the one-mile area most heavily impacted along the road and railroad.
In the past year, the biggest floods occurred in June and November 2006, and on June 1 this year.
"The purpose of the site walk is to see what needs to be done to mitigate the situation, for the residents and the railroad," said supervisor Clifford Gilchrest, who represents the Millboro District.
Others participating in the site walk were John Wright, area forester from the state Department of Forestry; Larry Mohn from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; Ellen Ford, director of soil conservation with the Cowpasture River Preservation Association; Millboro Area Rescue Squad members Susan Plecker and Essie Hefler; Gale Wilson, general manager of the Buckingham Branch Railroad Co.; and residents Stanford Howard and Tuck Graham.
 | | Officials who gathered in Millboro with residents last week to review the flooding situation along Lower Yard Road and conduct a site walk included (l-r): Gale Wilson, general manager of the Buckingham Branch Railroad Co. in Staunton; Essie Hefler, an EMT with the Millboro Area Rescue Squad; John Wright, area forester with the state's department of forestry; Ellen Ford, director of soil conservation with the Cowpasture River Preservation Association; Larry Mohn of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; Susan Plecker, first lieutenant, and EMT in the Millboro Area Rescue Squad; resident Stanford Howard; and Clifford Gilchrest, supervisor representing the Millboro District. Resident Tuck Graham also participated. (Recorder photo by Gina Hamilton) |
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Afterward, Mohn said they saw a lot of restrictions to the Cabin Creek water flow, and that the main culvert was too small at the intersection of Lower Yard and Huffman roads. Others noted beaver activity and remnants of some logging activity in one area.
Wright said debris was being deposited in the stream which, along with the beaver activity and sewer pipe, could impact the area. He also said timber coming down, or a tree during a flood, can close the entire stream channel. The stream then creates a new path.
Monday, Gilchrest said they are looking at what alternative might be available to alleviate future flooding as much as possible. "The frequency, the level (of flooding) in the past year has been an anomaly," he said. He is trying to coordinate on-site meetings with Sen. Creigh Deeds and Congressman Bob Goodlatte by mid-August. "We need to look at the best solution to where funding will come from," Gilchrest said.
And money will be needed. The officials agreed last week that an engineering study will need to be conducted by the Natural Resource Conservation Service "to look both at if the Lower Yard area is contributing to the flooding, or if the primary culprit is the bridge and railroad trestle," Gilchrest said. "Those things together are creating a damming situation with water backing up."
He noted another issue is the box culvert on the other side of the road that was apparently installed a long time ago and has collected debris that is also contributing to the flooding. According to Gilchrest, when an engineering study will be done, and where the money will come from, is unknown at this point.
From the railroad's perspective, Wilson said the heavy rains last fall and last month caused deterioration of the road bed. "The water washed out ballast stones and created ditches of all the tracks on both the east and westward direction of the Millboro tunnel," he said.
Wilson said the water also relocated dirt and debris on and around the tracks that had to be removed. The ballast had to be replaced, and the washout required filling and stabilizing.
"It's happened twice since we've been the operators in about two-and-a-half years, and both of those incidents have been within the last eight months," he said.
A short-term project will involve volunteer labor.
"One of the initial steps will be to clear the area of downed trees," said Gilchrest about the stream's location from the industrial park beyond Forbes Lane that has the greatest impediment to the flow of Cabin Creek. He said it would take a couple of weekends with people helping out who want the firewood.
Plans are to formulate a "plan of attack" by early August, according to Wright, on how best to proceed.
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