SYBENE - Burlington area residents Thursday evening heard plans to fix long-standing flooding and drainage problems in their community.

The Lawrence County Commission this year plans to submit an application to the state for $460,000 in Issue 2 monies to alleviate problems in three areas, affecting approximately 150 residences.

The county plans to use some of its 2004 Community Development Block Grant Funds to leverage its ability to win the state funding, according to Ralph Kline,Community Development Director for the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization.

"The county project review committee ranked this project number one. Within the next month or two, it will go before the district review committee In 18 years, I've never seen our No. 1 project not funded," Kline said.

"Hopefully by the spring of 2004 the state will give us final authorization to proceed with design work and hopeful by July 1 we can get our grant awarded. Hopefully then we can put the project out for big and then do a fall construction."

CAO Special Projects Director Dale Mootz said the project consists of three parts: Part A - the largest part of the project consists of installing a 36-inch storm drain under Old U.S. 52 to help drain an area from Washington Avenue to the Division Street area. A portion of part A has already been completed.

Part B entails installing a storm drain on West Drive and then tying it into an existing drain on Kimberly Lane. The drain on Kimberly Lane will be repaired and extended to the Ohio River.

Part C will alleviate flooding in the area around the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses near Chesapeake. A 12-inch drain under the parking lot at the church was supposed to have been replaced with a 24-inch drain several years ago.

Mootz said it appears the ends of the drain were upgraded but the middle section was not. A new line will be put in parallel with the old one and will cross underneath Old U.S. 52 and tie into an existing drain on Harbor Drive.