Road Commissioner Responds To Marnico Village Issues

By Benjamin Cox on February 17, 2022 at 9:40am

A Morgan County Road Commissioner wants to clear the air about awareness of problems surrounding drainage and the sewer system at Marnico Village.

Road District #6 Commissioner Roger Ore says that new president of the Marnico Betterment Association, Luke Marquardt, Jr. has not spoken to him recently about any concerns in Marnico Village that Marquardt brought to the Morgan County Commissioners’ attention on Monday: “I have not been talked to at all about this. There will be meetings coming up between me and [stakeholders], and hopefully we can get something solved.”

Ore recollects that the last time he and Marquardt spoke about any issues in Marnico Village was approximately 7-8 years ago, and he wished that Marquardt would have spoken to him or County Engineer Matt Coultas first before bringing his grievances to the County Commissioners.

Ore says that currently there isn’t any water flowing through the sewer systems in the village because of ice and cold temperatures, which is causing standing water. He says an upcoming meeting with the Morgan County Commissioners and Morgan County Engineer Matt Coultas will help clear up funding questions to make repairs and responsibility questions to set in motion getting the problems fixed.

Ore says the problems have been ongoing for a long time and that funding has always been a problem. He says he covers over 100 square miles in his road district. He says in and around Marnico Village alone, the cost to replace culverts alone would likely be several hundred thousand dollars according to his own estimates. Ore says he hopes the meetings with all the stakeholders will find a clear path forward on finding a resolution.