Resident urges Warren County to finally replace repeatedly failing Huntsville Road culvert

At the board's public comment period, Pottersville resident David Lapel urged Warren County supervisors to move forward with replacing a repeatedly failing culvert on Huntsville Road (County Route 19) over Marshall Brook.

Lapel recounted multiple washouts he said occurred in 1989, 2006 and several subsequent years, and referenced a 2006 crash in which a driver’s SUV nearly submerged. He told the board that a 2017 court ruling — which Lapel cited from a newspaper article — found Warren County liable for improper design or maintenance and awarded compensation to the injured motorist and her husband. "That section of Bumps of the Road was simply patched up, and nothing else has been done," Lapel said, describing repeated temporary repairs.

Lapel said residents were told by a county engineer (Macon Holmes, senior DPW engineer, cited by Lapel) that Warren County had received a $1,900,000 grant for the culvert and that work was scheduled, but he said the board postponed action and residents later learned on social media that the project was rescheduled in favor of another site. "When will Warren County fix this? This has been 20 years since a woman was almost killed," Lapel said, noting school buses and heavy tourist traffic use the road.

The board did not take action during the public comment period; county staff previously referenced project timelines in email correspondence, and Lapel offered to provide the board copies of emails and photographs documenting the washouts.

The comment was entered into the record; the transcript shows no immediate response from the board beyond thanking the speaker.