The town of Orrville asked the Dallas County Commission Monday afternoon for help to fix a drainage problem.

Council member Jewell Williamson said there is a major drainage issue with a ditch that runs from one end of town to the other.

“We have a terrible drainage problem,” Williamson told commissioners. “We’ve had this before many, many years ago back when y’all would come and help clean out the drainage ditches.”

Williamson said the ditch is not draining properly.

“It’s completely stopped up. The water is filled with green scum, and it’s terrible,” Williams said, as she passed pictures around to the commission. “It’s a health hazard.”

Williamson said she had spoken with Larry Friday, director of Environmental Services for Dallas County about the issue, and he said the county might be able to help Orrville get a grant to fix the issue.

“We need this to be taken care of. It’s covered in mosquitoes and that green scum cannot be healthy for our people,” Williamson said. “It’s not a good situation.”

Ballard said it is an issue he has seen before, and it certainly needs to be fixed.

“It is something that needs doing. The county can go into a city if the city requests it based on our availability of machinery and manpower,” said Commission Chairman Kim Ballard. “When I was commissioner over that district, I cleaned that ditch one time.”

Ballard said the county does not have the equipment to fix the problem, but he said they could work with the town on writing a grant to seek funding to solve the issue.

“Certainly if we can help you get a grant we’ll do it,” Ballard said.

Commissioner Roy Moore said if the town applied for the grant on its own with help from the county, the likelihood of getting it would be better.

“The chances are Orrville probably would be faster getting the grant than they would working it through us,” Moore said. “Our grant writer can write the grant for you, but it’ll probably be faster for Orrville than it would for Dallas County.”

Ballard said he would ask County Engineer Coosa Jones to look at the ditch to see if there is a temporary fix while waiting on a grant.

Mayor Louvenia Lumpkin said the town will do whatever it needs to do to get the grant written and applied for.