Residents frustrated with upkeep of drainage system

PITTSVILLE, Md. –  Many residents in Pittsville are dealing with poor maintenance of the town’s drainage ditches, which has led to problems when we see large-scale storms. But the town says they’re not the only ones involved in this and they’re doing what they can to address the problem.

In fact, town manager Joe Mangini calls drainage maintenance one of the town’s “top issues.” He says that the county and Public Drainage Association are also supposed to help with maintenance.

Mangini says that on top of seeking help from those two entities, the town has put in an application for a grant from the state to have a contractor come in, and to buy new equipment, a Kubato tractor.

But even with all that help, the fix may not be enough.

“If Pittsville just takes care of its end, there’s still the issue of it coming down to Willards and getting out to the Pocomoke. So everybody’s got to be included,” said Mangini.

Pittsville has reached out to the Governor’s office, Senator Carozza, the army corps of engineers, neighboring towns and the Public Drainage Association for a meeting to address what he believes to be a regional dilemma.

“One of the things that we have to do is get a regional stormwater management plan together that would cover the entire eastern part of the county, which is often neglected,” said Mangini.

Pittsville is planning to allocate more funding to its ditch maintenance in its 2020 budget, and is also considering re-working the map of what areas are responsible for the maintenance of town ditches.