PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Commission is looking into standing water issues in the Happy Valley area.

Residents David and Sandra Barrett appeared before the commission on Thursday to discuss issues on Happy Valley Lane and standing water in the Happy Valley area near West Virginia University at Parkersburg and along the Little Kanawha River.

The area has been a source of flooding for a number of years with a number of homes impacted.

The county has had funding available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to buy properties and demolish them. The work is part of a federal program to get houses out of the floodplain that have continuously had claims. The county has been working on it since 2007.

The Barretts said they are among a dozen residences still in their area.

Crews removed the last batch of five houses last summer, David Barrett said.

“When they did it, they took all the culverts out,” he said. “Consequently, our road is ridiculous. The water just stands there. It swells up and there is no place for it to go and it has busted up the asphalt .”

He said people have run into holes in road that are several inches deep.

Sandra Barrett said each house torn down with a driveway had a culvert taken out.

“Now there are no culverts and the water just piles up in ditches and undermines the road,” she said.

Adding stagnant water has been collecting in spots near existing homes, she said.

Commissioner Robert Tebay asked if there was a homeowner’s association to take care of the roads to which the Barretts said there was not as the roads had traditionally been in good shape.

However problems have developed with the road that has made it hard to navigate.

“It is bad,” Sandra said.

Tebay said where water is standing now could become ice this winter. Something will have to be done as Tebay did not think the state would come in and repair the road down there.

Since the county now owns several lots in the area it would be subject to road dues that a homeowners association would institute, Wood County Administrator Marty Seufer said.

“We would probably have to kick in for the properties we own,” he said. “We own a bunch in there.”

Although the county used FEMA money to buy the property and tear down structures, the county retains ownership over them. The rules under which they FEMA money is given out does not allow the county to sell those properties off, county officials said.

“We can’t get rid of it,” Seufer said, adding no one will be able to build on it because it is in a floodplain.

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo asked if they could contact the state to see if there was anything that could be done by them to help that area. He said they will look at other options to make the road passable again.

“You need to make a checklist of all the problems the road has and the commission will write a letter to the (state road officials) and the Governor to see if they can do some help for you,” Colombo said.

The Barretts asked if the culverts could be put back in.

“Get those back in and get the water flowing again would be a big help,” David Barrett said.

Seufer said they would have to look at the original contracts for the demolition work to see if removing the culverts was part of the original jobs.

“I don’t know what the original bid specs were,” he said.

Tebay suggested they send a letter to the demolition company to see if there was anything that could be done.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com