Fox Hunter Crossing

Community Water Drainage - Summer Issue '02

Sep 01, 2002

Background

At our last community meeting in April, a community member raised a question about what could be done to address the ongoing water drainage and ponding problems in driveways and swales. Stover Builders' response to previous Board inquiries regarding this matter was to require individual homeowners to submit a written request to Stover stating the problem. Members attending the April meeting were reminded to write to Stover if they haven't yet done so.

Following the April meeting, the Board contacted New Castle County for advice and assistance to investigate and correct the problem. A community survey was begun by community member Chuck Jackson to assess the scope of the problem in a comprehensive manner. The county initially told us that seemed like a good approach.

In May, the Board received a letter from our County community representative indicating a change in their position, prompting the Board to suspend the community survey. New Castle County has now dictated a specific procedure for residents to follow to have their drainage problems inspected and potentially addressed by the County as to Stover's involvement.

Procedure to File a Complaint

According to the letter, New Castle County will only respond to individual homeowner complaints when the homeowner has notified the builder in writing and the homeowner has contacted the N.C.C. Customer Information and Assistance/Complaints section at (302) 395-5555. In lieu of calling the county complaint line, homeowners may submit their concern in writing (only after writing to Stover) to:

New Castle County Customer Information and Assistance
ATTN: Paula Marsilii, Coordinator
87 Reads Way
New Castle, DE 19720

The letter further stated that the builder "refuses to approach this issue in a large chunk" and will address driveway water ponding problems on a case by case basis. A County inspector will be out to inspect properties 48 hours after a rain event.

The Board has invited Ms. Marsilii to attend our August 13th community meeting to present what benefits she can provide our community and address any questions residents might have regarding this issue.