TURNER STATION, Md. — People living in Turner Station say the flooding problem has been an issue for decades, and they are beyond ready to see the problem solved.
The issue is the community can’t seem to get past the survey and planning stages for potential flood mitigation projects.
“It's been going on for so long and it always starts the same way, we have to do a survey and we’ll get back to you and then they say it costs too much and then somebody else comes in with another survey and then they say that costs too much and so its definitely frustration," says Olivia Lomax, a Turner Station resident.
Monday night’s meeting was another one of those planning phase meetings.
Baltimore County, along with the Turner Station Conservation Team, was awarded a $5,000 grant to develop a Climate Resilience Roadmap for the community.
The purpose? To create a detailed proposal to present to the federal government with the hopes of winning grant money to actually complete the project.
But after sitting in another planning meeting, neighbors like Maxine Waterhouse say the frustration just keeps growing.
“It's nothing that can help us. I mean because it’s just another survey, I’ve seen all of the surveys," says Waterhouse
Olivia Lomax, who has lived in Turner Station her entire life, says she understands the process, but wishes they could get past the planning phase.
“It's a process that you have to go through to get the grants. But when you are on the other end of it, it just doesn’t make sense to have to keep going through this over and over again," says Lomax
She says hearing over and over again that federal and state governments won’t approve of grants for flood mitigation projects in Turner Station because it costs too much is disheartening.
“They are putting a dollar sign on my life, my grandkids' life, and everybody that lives in the community. They are saying it costs too much for us to live healthy," she says.
But she says she is very hopeful that time is different because there is evidence of flooding, photos, and videos that the conservation team collected as part of the survey.
In the meantime, Waterhouse wants her neighbors to know about things they can do to protect their homes.
“They can make people aware of what resources they have available to them. That's what’s really important get the information out there to help your neighbor," Waterhouse said.
The Climate Resistance Roadmap project is now approaching its second phase, which includes creating the proposal for grant funding.
The Conservation Team and Baltimore County plan to apply for grant funding around the fall of 2025.
