KINSMAN — The Trumbull County Engineer’s Office has agreed to help the township locate the cause of excessive flooding in parts of the community.

More than 30 residents attended an informational meeting Monday hosted by trustees, with county officials present, on what can be done to find the cause for so much flooding after rainstorms.

Major flooding issues have occurred on Elm Street, Kinsman Nickerson Road, Church Street, Yoder Street and Main Street.

Township Trustee Greg Leonhard said the water comes from higher elevated Ridge Road and Church Street, goes under the old school property, crosses Main Street and then heads south to KInsman Nickerson Road, and Yoder and Elm streets.

Resident Ralph Barker of Kinsman Nickerson Road said the excessive flooding has created a safety problem.

He said water comes down from a nearby hill and goes across the road and stays there, often reaching several inches of water on Kinsman Nickerson Road, east of the intersection of Warrensville Kinsman Road. Barker said the ditches on the sides of the road are also flooded.

“There is so much water that people driving on the road do not realize how much there is. The drivers do not realize how deep it is. It looks like a river. I have seen some cars hydroplane to get through. I am surprised cars have not gone off the sides of the road,” Barker said.

Residents David and Jenny Waite of Yoder Street said their backyard is a lower area and in the past seven to eight years has become a mud plain because of heavy rainfall. David Waite said the garage has a basement that often gets 3 to 4 feet of water and mud in it.

“We moved there in 2014, and the situation has gotten worse and worse over the years. There seems to be more water coming through the system now than there ever has been in previous years,” he said.

Waite said a neighbor had to raise their garage to deal with the flooding using a wall made from railroad ties.

Road Superintendent Vince Peterson said he believes the ditches do not drain fast enough following heavy rain. He said there is also muddy water coming from the nearby creek that overflows and doesn’t drain fast enough.

Leonhard said John Hickey, director of the Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency, recently took drone footage of the township that was shown at the meeting, noting the main flooding areas. He said most of the flooding is around Kinsman Nickerson Road and south of that location.

WHAT ENGINEERS WILL DO

Gary Taneri, chief deputy/administrator for the Trumbull County Engineer’s Office, said a drainage study and survey of the area will be done, which he said can be done at no cost to the township through his office’s township assistance program.

Taneri said the study will look at the size of piping at road crossings and whether it is too small to handle stormwater. He said new, larger-sized pipes may be needed in some areas for faster water removal.

“We want to see what is actually going on and what pipe sizes you may need. Some pipes may need cleaning out,” Taneri said.

He said trustees would need to pass a motion approving the county doing so. Trustees have scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Saturday at the administration building to pass a resolution to have the engineer’s office begin the study.

Taneri said following that approval, inspections of the pipes can begin in April.

Taneri said the drainage study will determine what the pipe sizes are and what the pipe sizes should be to handle a 10-year storm. Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy, who was at Monday’s meeting, said it is important to find the cause of the flooding.

“This is one piece of the puzzle. We need to get to the source of all the flooding and the clogging, which is the bigger issue,” Malloy said.

Malloy suggested volunteers help with the cleaning of the ditches and tributaries of the Grand River in the area.