SEAVIEW – Complaints over work done by the Pacific County Department of Public Works along 30th St. in Seaview resulted in a visit to the site by County Commissioner Jon Kaino.

Earlier this month, the waterway paralleling 30th St. was dredged and tons of spoils were deposited on the property of Tracy Fleming. In addition, resident Jeanette Triplett had complained to the county about repeated flooding to her property that she said is caused by improperly done road improvements to the street that resulted in water being channeled directly through her yard.

So on Dec. 14, Kaino paid a visit to meet with Triplett and seek a solution to the problems.

Triplett gave him a tour of the area, pointing out the slope of the road, the inadequate drainage on her side of the street, the small drainage pipe the county placed under her front fence, and the resulting erosion to her front walkway. She worried that her husband or any visitors would trip in the hole in the walkway, potentially injuring themselves.

Although the opposite side of the road from her house was protected from erosion with gravel, she pointed out, her side had none. Her garage had repeatedly flooded, she said, damaging or destroying antiques and family heirlooms she had stored there.

Triplett then led Kaino to the other side of the street, and pointed to the exit to the culvert that ran under the road from her driveway. An old speed-limit sign was being used to prevent backflow into the culvert from the waterway.

“This is unacceptable,” she told Kaino.

After looking around the site and her property, he agreed. He also looked at the pile of dredge spoils on the Fleming property, and said the county made a mistake there as well.

He asked how the county could remedy the situation, joking with Triplett that she was probably the first person to write to a county official calling for their resignation and yet receive a personal visit from that official seeking to solve a problem.

The two then got down to the serious business of haggling. Triplett wanted the drainage on her side of the road to be improved by hand to minimize damage to her front yard. Kaino insisted the county would need to use machinery. Trench widths, grading openings and gravel size and placement were discussed. Time lines were talked about.

Triplett emphasized that she did not hold Pacific County Public Works employees responsible, and even hinted she might provide them with home-made desserts if work was completed to her satisfaction.

In the end, the two seemed to come to an understanding and at least a temporary truce. They even seemed to share some common ground. Both paused their discussion to admire a bald eagle flying overhead.

Later in the week, the dredge was removed from the Fleming property and hauled away. Public works had placed a temporary bridge over the waterway so heavy equipment would not have to be moved over the property.

Kaino later promised that work on repairing the road slant and drainage would start as soon as possible after the holidays.

He said all the work done in the area was an attempt to control flooding in the area, which historically has been a problem, and the county worked hard to provide for the common good, although sometimes mistakes are made causing unintended damage to some.

“We don’t screw up on purpose,” he said during a later interview, “but sometimes we do screw up, and when we do we try and fix it.”