Please note we Do Not live in a Flood Zone here in the County , yet for the past 3 years we and three other houses have been flooded under neath . The first flooding occurred in 2016, costing us $3,000.00, out of pocket, to have water removed from under the house , dryed out , sprayed, and insulation removed /replaced.
After this occurance we obtained Flood Insurance , through "FEMA ". We had a claim of over $5,000 in 2017 , of which only Three hundred some dollars was obtained, and another in 2018 of $14,000.00, water entering and destroying items in our Garage and Shed. This Insurance is $1,000.00 deductible , with depreciation cost applied .
We received notice from our Insurance Company this past week "OUR FLOOD INSURANCE HAS BEEN CANCELED" due to considering us A High Risk , of Two claims in the past 2 years !!!!
There have been many mails transpired between us, Public Works and the Council . We are
told the County can do nothing since these properties were developed prior to
Storm Water Management went into effect . Through the several years of the back/forth with
the County, the Public Works Department and doing our own research , we learn the following:
5,000 acres of drainage is going into Parker Pond , there's the problem of not having pipes wide enough to take larger amounts of water out to the Pond , the pipes don't have enough of a downward slope to the Pond, the Pond fills up and closes the flap to the pipe that takes the water from the Private Drainage Easement behind these houses to the Pond , and a Building Permit granted to adjoining neighbors property from Planning and Zoning Dept. , many years ago, approved a garage to be built over the Private Drainage Easement, which is illegal. ie; this told to us this past year when the properties were surveyed. An Easement that's to help take water off the properties to the main drain . We are told this is not a County problem , rather the Homeowners . So, now we are without Flood Insurance & sit on Property we cannot get fair Market Value for IF it can even be sold .
Several months ago, I ask that the County Council to put forth an amendment concerning Private Drainage Easements so the owner is responsible for keeping them cleared / clean, or be fined by the County & having to pay if the County comes in to clear them . Nothing has been done by them at this time . Newer developments are having to abide by the restrictions mentioned above , why not the older developments of tax paying citizens ? By not doing so , I view the County as causing unnecessary problems citizens should not have to deal with plus allowing / causing more flooding of properties when water cannot flow freely off the lands .
Our following questions have been sent to the County and Mr. Culver this past Friday:
Will the Council bring an amendment forth and pass , concerning Private Drainage Easements having to abide by the same restrictions / laws of Newer Developments in the County ?
What will the County be doing ----knowing Planning / Zoning Department granted a permit for a garage to be built over a 20 ft. wide Drainage Easement ? In place of the 20 ft. wide Drainage easement , an 8 " pipe was put under asphalt to take water to the main drain by the property owner , thus restricting water to drain off the adjoining properties .
(Property with the Private drainage easement / over which the garage is built is to be put up for sale due to the owners recent death. )
Will the County lower property taxes on homes that flood in areas and are no longer valued at Market Value ?
Concerned Citizen of Wicomico County
18 comments:
The top 10 Insurance companies have enough wealth to pay off the national debt.That is an absolute fact.22 trillion and counting.Not only could they pay it,they could continue to operate as if nothing happened.
Insurance is a scam run by the government.
Talking about insurance companies making so much money look locally at Ed Wilgus. He's made so much money he used it as a legal form of loan sharking. Then made so much money between those two entities he literally paid several millions of dollars in cash to purchase used vehicle fleets. It's never enough money for greedy ass people like this
This looks a problem created by some of tom ruark's antics
The County does not even maintain the road ditches. They do not drain into the tax ditches because they are not maintain. The road holds water and the ditches overflow into my yard instead of drain into the tax ditch 100 yards away. This has been this way for 18 years and the County Roads Dept has been contacted several times.
Yes, Have never seen a poor Ins. Co, let alone , the
Government!
This is absolute neglect from County Departments as to a Garage
being built over a drainage easement.
Any good lawyers out there ?
I read our County Ex. post last Wed. on here encouraging
people to get flood Ins. What good will it do , if
they are going to cancel you after a few claims?
This is Crazy !
Sorry to say but don't expect the county to help in this matter.
It isn't just the county. Believe me. The city is responsible as well. Something for the new mayor to look into. The writer of this post is right. When we moved into our home, it was not a flood zone! Past 10 years have changed that. And huge difference between hone owners insurance and flood insurance. Flood insurance is run by the government.
I have the same problem and have been jerked around by the county for years. I got everything in my garage up off the floor and installed 3 sump pumps with automatic float valves under the house. That has pretty much solved the problem. I run an exhaust fan under the house for a few days after flooding. PS I do not have any insulation under my house, I just close off the vents in the winter. My floors are never cold.
Ed Wilgus is the biggest legal crook in the state. He knows all the loopholes and laws better than a Philadelphia lawyer. He is as crooked as can be but knows how to get around it with his money and knowledge of crookedness. When money talks, people listen............especially judges, top notch lawyers, etc. I wouldn't buy a car from him if I had to walk around the globe 14 times.
Reply to
1: 37 I wish there was some place to pump the water , but we don't have that access UNTILL it's drained off the County Roads and our yard , then we have to do it gradually after the 8 " pipe in the 20 ft wide drainage easement is free of water .
So tell me what have you tried to get the County to do and what
has their reply been?
Wicomico County ??? They are impossible to deal with!.
The entire "Crew" up there needs to go, they have way
to much Power and abuse of it !
Shame on the County for granting a permit for a garage
to be built over a Drainage Easement. You should be
sued ! What are you going to do about this anyway, Wicomico
County---after all You Are Responsible!
I took care of water sitting on a piece off land I own. The county would not clean out the ditch. I put in a pipe, ten inch to a ditch on my land it worked great. When the state an county found out about it I was offered a Three Hundred an Fifty thousand fine an time in jail. Good thing I new what I was doing an the laws. not guilty an the drain works great. My word to you folks be carefull with this.
Oh my gosh, Why did the County say they were going to
fine you ???
The County gets MDE to do the dirty work. Brian Littlefield is with MDE. They hate me, I started Recycling in 1985 made it work and it still works good to this day. This is what I did by myself. The County has a lot of good people working for it, an it has rotten ones to, they cant get their heads out of their butts, How hard is it to make water run down hill. BE CAREFULL IF YOU DO SOMETHING WRIGHT.
David , What's the MDE ?
Did the County ever reply to you asking them to have
the ditch cleaned out?
Stone gate has the same sort of problem. The city had no idea what it was doing when it started allowing private developers to build planned develops complete with infrastructure (often inadequate). The owners are stuck and the city, especially Mayor Day, is uncooperative and takes the position of “tough luck” for the residents. The city of Salisbury also did very poor modeling of run off for new hard surfacing resulting in flooding in many places... look at the old Forbes house in Camden and the Priscilla St area as examples.
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