Lauderdale County supervisors are working to address an ongoing drainage issue at the Lauderdale County Courthouse after hearing from contractors Thursday about the problem.

 

County Administrator Chris Lafferty said the county has been dealing with soft spots along the northwest corner of the courthouse since August, and he invited LPK Architects, which designed the courthouse, and Yates Construction, the lead contractor, to the Board of Supervisors’ work session to explain it.

 

No water has penetrated the building itself, he said, but the landscaping and lawn along the northwest corner is saturated with water.

 

Jim Smith, of LPK Architects, said the land at the northwest corner of the courthouse is constantly wet, even during dry conditions.

 

“At one time I was convinced there was some kind of water leak underneath that thing,” he said.

 

No leak was found, Smith said, and testing showed the water had not been treated, ruling out a leak. Through a combination of groundwater, irrigation and runoff, he said, water is collecting in that corner and it will continue until the problem is addressed.

 

“The only way to get this thing out of there is to probably put a French drain down there by the curb,” he said.

 

A French drain is easy to install and relatively inexpensive, Smith said. It is something the county’s landscaping crews could tackle for a ballpark estimate of less than $10,000, he said.

 

The only caveat to installing the drain is that county workers will have to wait for the area to dry partially before excavating, Smith said.

 

With verbal agreement from the Board of Supervisors, Lafferty said he will begin the process of getting the project organized and underway.

 

In other business, supervisors discussed a draft of a proposed culvert policy for Lauderdale County. Road Manager Rush Mayatt, who drafted the policy, said officials from the State Auditor’s office have emphasized the importance of having a policy, and having established guidelines for what the county will and won’t do will alleviate a lot of headache for himself and the supervisors.

 

“I believe this will lessen the heated conversations we continue to have and ultimately make us better,” he said.

 

Lauderdale County does not currently have an established policy for culverts, which can present a problem for both legal and financial reasons. The county cannot install culverts with the goal of benefitting a private business or residence, Mayatt said, and can only intervene when it is for the good and welfare of the county as a whole.

 

Cost is also a factor, with some areas needing a 12-inch pipe, at roughly $350, he said, while other places need a much larger pipe costing $2,000 or more.

 

Clarifying what the county will do, under what circumstances and at what cost will bring both consistency and fairness to the culvert issue, Mayatt said, as well as bring the county up to the standards the State Auditor’s office wants to see.

 

“The State Auditor has preached and preached, ‘You’ve got to have a policy,’” he said.

 

Included in the policy is a clause that the Board of Supervisors can grant exceptions if necessary, Mayatt said, so supervisors won’t have their hands tied completely.

 

Supervisor J.J. Andrews said he can see the need for the policy and likes the general idea behind the draft. However, there are still a few things to be ironed out before the policy can be adopted.

 

“I like where you’re heading. We’ve just got to fine tune it,” he said.