Flooding erodes stream bank in Dennison; village wants ODOT to help pay for repairs

DENNISON ‒ Orange barrels have been placed along a portion of Stillwater Avenue in Dennison, where a stream bank has begun to erode away because of the recent flooding in the Tuscarawas Valley.

Stillwater Avenue runs along Little Stillwater Creek, and it also carries Ohio 800 through the village.

Mayor Greg DiDonato said Friday that he wants the state highway rerouted out of Dennison if the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is unwilling to help pay for needed repairs. He said he was told that repairing the Stillwater Avenue slippage is Dennison's responsibility.

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Lauren Borell, public information office for ODOT District 11, confirmed that. "That is actually in the villages limit, so it is therefore the responsibility of Dennison," she told The T-R.

Consecutive storms have dropped a large amount of rain on the area over the past few days. According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, a location one mile northwest of Dennison has received 3.67 inches of rain as of Friday. Areas upstream of Dennison in Harrison County had received nearly 5 inches of rain.

The slippage is currently confined to a small area of the stream bank. DiDonato said he told officials with Claymont City Schools to avoid using the highway for its buses until the problem is addressed. It is important to keep Stillwater Avenue open, because the Dennison Fire Department uses it to reach Union Township for fire and EMS calls, he noted.

DiDonato said the village only receives around $11,200 from the state for having Ohio 800 go through town. "That doesn't even pay for the street sweeping," he said.

Oil well traffic creates wear and tear

Because the state route goes through the Thornwood Park section of the village, an energy company drilling a well on Moravian Trail Road outside of town has been using it for what the mayor described as "wall to wall" truck traffic to service the well. He said on at least one occasion, trucks were backed up from the Stillwater Avenue/Center Street intersection back to Dudgeon Way, about a half mile back from the intersection.

The truck traffic creates a lot of wear and tear on streets in town, as well as the rail crossing at Jewett Avenue, which is on the state route, he said.

"We don't get any money from this (drilling), but we endure all of the activity," DiDonato said. He added that he has gotten complaints from residents about the traffic.

Another well is going to be drilled in the Stillwater area, which will bring more traffic to Dennison.

'The state needs to step up'

If ODOT sticks with its opinion that the slippage is Dennison's problem, then he said he wants the state route rerouted.

"The state needs to step up to the plate and assist us," DiDonato said. "That $11,200 we get, I'd give that up in a minute to get that state route out of here."

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Dennison officials want ODOT to help pay for Stillwater Avenue repairs