Residents of Shelbi’s Place subdivision could be getting some relief from flooding issues that have plagued them in recent weeks.

During Tuesday’s Lafayette County Board of Supervisors meeting, county road manager Joe Bynum informed the board that developer Lee Marquis has offered to clean an outlet ditch along Highway 7.

“One of the problems we found down there when the flooding happened is the outlet ditch where all this water comes from and goes toward the highway is grown up, cluttered up and is just a mess, and will not let the water flow right,” Bynum said. “We have offered some trucking assistance, one or two trucks.”

County crews will have to cross private property, according to Bynum, “to clean this ditch out and grub it and get the ditch back opened up again.”

Assistant road manager Jon Coleman has been in the Shelbi Place area, Bynum said and is very familiar with the problem. His father is the land-owner who will allow access to the ditch.

“We think this will help with the flooding issues,” Bynum said.

A couple weeks ago, a heavy rain caused street flooding in the neighborhood and a few homes on North Shelbi Drive ended up with water.

Board president Jeff Busby asked for an update on the paving that is going on in the subdivision.

County inspector Joel Hollowell said half of the road is paved near the construction site.

“Lee has worked hard to develop a better defensive model on that south side,” Hollowell said.

Too much rain

Erosion caused by the heavy rainfall sent mud and debris flowing through the streets of the subdivision near a current construction project in the subdivision. Coleman told the board that “a couple silt fences failed.”

“The silt fences were in place, but they failed,” Coleman said. “They had some round hay bales across the street in case of a flood like that and they did not have their hay bales in place. We got a ton of rain down there in 30 minutes. If Mother Nature hits you that hard, you’re just about not going to control it.

Following the heavy rain and the ensuing flooding, supervisors shut down the construction project in the latest phase of the subdivision. Hollowell advised that the project is back up and running and once again in operation.