Lawrence County has replaced an under-the-road pipe on my property in preparation for road resurfacing.

It is on CR 131 in South Point. They say the pipe was put in 40 years ago and that it’s their right to replace it. The road foreman agreed the old cement pipe was very small and plugged.

The new pipe is huge.

My property has been zoned agricultural for 30 years. It has produced beef cattle, chickens and horses. It has been feeding the community for 30 years.

My barn and pasture have been in that same position for 30 years. The county pipe may have worked for 10 years, but it has been plugged up for 30 years. There is no sign on water drainage on this property; proving that their pipe has been plugged for many, many years. I did take pictures the day of installation to prove that there is no water drainage ditch from the old pipe.

This new pipe will flood my one and only flat pasture and my barn. Can a county just flood a farmer’s barn because it’s convenient and they had a pipe there 40 years ago? Seems to me they abandoned that pipe 30 years ago. That’s why the road is ruined. There are many other positions to place a pipe along County Road 131.

I have not objected when they replaced other pipes along my property. I asked the county engineering office for help but they hung up on me and refused to make an appointment with the man in charge of Engineering/Lawrence County.

Don’t we pay their salaries? Don’t farm owners have rights? I just need this pipe moved. Who can help me?

 

Laura Gloor,
South Point