By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@Salisburypost

CHINA GROVE — The town will spend an estimated $5,000 to fix a stormwater problem on two properties, including one owned by Alderman Allen Welter.

The board debated the issue extensively Tuesday night as Town Manager Bill Pless warned about setting a precedent. Pless said that whenever 8 inches of rain fall, the town office gets lots of calls from property owners complaining about street water going into their buildings or doing other damage.

Welter remained silent during the discussion. When Mayor Don Bringle asked Welter to take a seat in the audience for the vote, Welter refused, saying he had followed the attorney's advice to not participate.

But Welter said he was elected to the seat by the voters of China Grove and wasn't going to step down unless Police Chief Hodge Coffield removed him.

"Al can stay," Coffield said from the audience, drawing laughter from the audience.

Town officials admitted that the water causing the problem for the Welter property and property owned by Troy Neas is water coming off two Franklin and Centerview streets. The low-elevation properties are at the end of Centerview Street on Franklin Street.

The town has a 16-inch pipe that takes the water from the streets and dumps it in a ditch on the Neas property. The ditch flattens out, with the water running across the Welter property to a stream.

At the outset of the meeting, Barbara Welter, wife of Alderman Welter, cited repeated efforts to get the town to fix the problem since they bought the property in 2001.

She said the water has knocked the supports out from under a rental house on the property. "We have put support posts under the floor, and every time it rains, the water from the town's storm drain washes the earth under the posts away," she told the board.

Public Works Director David Ketner estimated the cost of materials to fix the problem at $5,301, with the town crews doing the work.

Ketner and other town officials said the town has no easements for the drain area and has never kept up the drainage ditch.

Pless suggested a cost-sharing arrangement, with the property owners and the town sharing the cost of materials.

"The town should not bear the full costs," Pless said, adding that he is concerned about setting a precedent.

Town Attorney Tom Brooke said the town has no responsibility for stormwater issues in 99.9 percent of all cases, but he advised the board that this instance falls in that one-tenth of a percent.

Brooke went on to advise the board to be "very careful É if you accept responsibility, it grows."

Alderman Lee Withers offered a motion to allow Pless to handle the matter and negotiate with the property owners.

As the motion evolved, Pless wanted to know the guidelines on how much the town was willing to pay.

As the board kept adding and changing Withers' motion, Mayor Pro Tem Blair Lyseski said he couldn't see two property owners having to pay $2,500 to deal with the town's water.

"If we're responsible, then we need to to fix it," Pless said, asking if that's what the board wanted.

Withers and Lyseski combined to offer a motion for the town to pay the full cost of fixing the problem.

Alderman Butch Bivens joined Withers and Lyseski in supporting the motion. Ron Overcash voted against.

Pless said the town will need to acquire easements on the properties to allow access for town crews and equipment, saying the repair won't be done until the easements are in hand.

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