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Observations
July 18, 2019 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Smithfield should sue Raleigh
for excessive stormwater runoff
Well, perhaps a lawsuit isn't necessary, but there needs to be some regional discussion about the capital city's impact on downstream flooding along the Neuse River at Smithfield.
I've been observing the relationship between heavy rainfall at Raleigh and the river's behavior here since hurricanes Fran and Floyd got our attention 20 years ago. Much has been said about the Falls Lake dam and its impact on water volumes in the Neuse. But I've seen much more impact from stormwater runoff BELOW the dam --- because most of Raleigh drains into Crabtree Creek and Walnut Creek, which flow into the Neuse some 17 miles downstream from Falls Lake.
A deluge of rain in Raleigh is what raises the river at Smithfield to alarming levels from time to time --- and most of those events aren't from the well-publicized hurricanes like Fran and Floyd and Matthew.
The truth is, Raleigh's sprawling real-estate development over the past half century has accelerated runoff from rainfall despite "stormwater abatement" measures put in place by builders of roads and shopping centers and residential subdivisions as a result of federal, state, and local rules.
What's making matters worse is recent intensification of storms apparently related to global warming.
Back in the late 1940s the Town of Smithfield threatened to sue the City of Raleigh to put a stop to its dumping of raw sewage into the Neuse River and polluting Smithfield's water supply. Fortunately, Raleigh got its act together and built a wastewater-treatment plant that has made the river cleaner over the years. The threatened lawsuit by Smithfield became unnecessary.
May we hope for a similar resolution of Raleigh's stormwater runoff problem.
Who's paying for local historical
markers?
It was brought to my attention that last week's story about the Governor Benjamin Williams historical marker failed to give credit to the Smith-Bryan Chapter of the DAR for helping to pay for it.
So here's a rundown of who's providing the money for five markers being erected this summer by the county to supplement the state's roadside marker program:
A $5,650 grant from the Johnston Co
unty Visitors Bureau is the lead
source of funding for this year's batch of markers (more
to come in years ahead).The Smith-Bryan Chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) contributed $1,000 for the Benjamin Williams marker, to be erected near the easternmost intersection of Brogden and Grabtown roads about 10 miles from Smithfield.
The Clayton Historical Association contributed $500 for the Hinton's Quarter courthouse-site marker (pictured), which has been erected near a "roundabout" on the recent extension of East Front Street in Clayton.
The Johnston County Heritage Center added $4,325 to the project, bringing the total raised to manufacture and erect the five markers to $11,475. (The numbers come from Todd Johnson, the Heritage Center's director.)
The last of this summer's marker dedications, by the way, is scheduled for 10 a.m. this Saturday (July 20) in the Selma Town Council's chambers at 110 East Anderson Street. It will mark the spot of the 1942 Catch-Me-Eye explosion, which occurred after a truck hauling World War II munitions collided with an automobile and caught fire at the intersection of highways 301 and 70 just south of Selma.
The two other historical markers erected recently identify sites of a 19th Century Freedmen's School in Smithfield and Atkinson Mill north of Selma that has been in business since 1757.
Nicely done.
Preview of a Smithfield project coming soon
Carthage, in Moore
County, has a new "splash pad" that may be similar
to what's in the works for Smithfield's Smith-Collins
Park. I came across this photograph in the Pilot's
Briefing, an online newsletter published by the
Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines that was the
inspiration for my launching the Smithfield Weekly Sun.
The Carthage contraption appears to be part of a larger
outdoor "splash park" built for $282,000, according to
the Pilot, and it's the third "splash pad" to be
constructed in Moore County. The Town of Smithfield's
budget for 2019-20 includes $125,000 for a "splash pad"
here. Detailed plans for our project haven't taken
shape, so we don't know how it will stack up to the one
seen here.
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