Bev Moore of House Springs said she didn’t get much sleep last week because of all the rain in the forecast.
She said her home on Spring Glen Drive, off Hillsboro-House Springs Road and near Heads Creek, has flooded twice in the past year, leading to property damage and loss of furniture and precious keepsakes.
As a result, she can’t sleep during rainy weather.
“I’m tired all the time because I don’t sleep (when rainy weather is forecast). I stay awake the whole night watching TV because I’m scared,” she told the Jefferson County Council on March 24. “That’s the way I live now, and I’m begging for something to be done. We’re all praying and begging for something to be done because we don’t want to lose our homes.”
Fortunately, the creek remained in its bank during last week’s rain, Moore said, but her worries about flooding continue.
She believes the flooding is due to Jefferson County’s lack of creek maintenance. However, county officials deny that claim.
Moore said 11 houses are located along Spring Glen Drive, with three homeowners already driven away from their properties due to the repeated flooding and another house up for sale.
She said her home flooded after about 4-6 inches of rain fell in a 30-minute period on July 8, 2024, which led to flash flooding in House Springs.
It flooded again last fall, when about 9 inches of rain fell in the area from Nov. 2-5, Moore said, adding that her house was the hardest hit on her street.
She said 4 feet of water rushed into her home and ruined furniture, appliances, flooring and walls, Moore said, adding that every vehicle on the street was totaled.
High Ridge Fire Protection District crews rescued her by boat at the height of that flooding, she said.
Moore said County Councilman Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs) and a representative for state Sen. Elizabeth Coleman will meet with Spring Glen Drive residents and inspect the creek on Friday, April 11.
Could dredging help?
The homes on Spring Glen Drive fall within the Heads Creek regulatory floodway, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency maps.
“The creek has not been maintained for years, and that’s causing the waters to rise so rapidly,” Moore said.
William Blackwell, who purchased his home on Spring Glen Drive in 2007, agrees.
He said the area received 8 inches of rain due to Hurricane Ike in 2008, causing a foot of water to flood his home.
“Sixteen years later, on Nov. 5, 2024, there was far less rainfall in the area, and again our house got 12 inches of water go through it,” he said. “Afterward, I inspected the creek, and there was a very large gravel bar that’s deposited just opposite of Spring Glen Drive, which in my estimation, would reduce the capacity of the creek by maybe 30 to 35 percent. There’s an access road going down to the creek, and that gravel bar could be easily moved to restore the creek to its full potential again, and I’m hoping the county would consider doing that.”
Blackwell claims that Jefferson County owns a parcel that includes part of the creek where a gravel bar is located, adding that the Jefferson County Public Works Department harvested gravel from that area for the county’s gravel roads. In 1986, however, a sales tax was approved that allowed the county to chip-seal those roads, and since then, the gravel has been piling up in the creek.
Public Works Director Jason Jonas refuted Blackwell’s claims.
While the county does own a small parcel of land along Heads Creek, Jonas said there are no records indicating the county ever touched the creek’s gravel bar.
“To say the county owns the creek in that area is disingenuous, at least, because the county does not own the creek. It owns to the center line, just as (the neighboring property) does,” he said. “I don’t know what the county used that parcel for. We haven’t used it in the 12 years I’ve been here.”
According to Assessor’s Office property records, Jefferson County obtained the nearly 1-acre parcel in 2008.
Jonas said the county no longer owns or maintains any gravel roads and the county hasn’t harvested gravel for at least the last three decades, if not longer.
“The claim that this parcel is causing flooding is completely false,” Jonas said. “If the whole creek has gravel, harvesting it from one parcel would do absolutely nothing for detention and storage or flow in the creek. If the creek is choked with gravel, a couple hundred feet of frontage property is not going to help that matter, and the county does not have any legal responsibility to clean the creek of gravel. In fact, it’s quite against the law.”
To make alterations to a creek, the county would need to gain permissions from federal, state and local agencies, Jonas said.
“The county has no use for gravel, so we would not harvest gravel, and we have no legal liability to do so,” he said.
The county received guidance from the Corps of Engineers about the Heads Creek flooding issue, Jonas said, and was told dredging of the small stretch of the creek would not be allowed. By altering the creek in one place, the county could “make matters worse” upstream and downstream, Jonas said.
“I’m not going to say I disagree with these folks that harvesting rock through an entire creek, an entire watershed, wouldn’t help capacity, but it would take a coordinated effort across the whole watershed to do that,” Jonas said. “There’s no legal basis to do it.”
Homeowner relief
Blackwell asked officials if there was a way the county could buy out the homes on Spring Glen Drive due to the flooding there.
County Services Director Mitch Bair said the county defers to the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for buyouts.
“If people have flood insurance, that’s where they would get a full buyout from the government,” he said. “Then (the property) would be owned by the state, as opposed to the county. The state could buy those out and own them, or the county can participate with the state, and we take ownership of those properties. Once we get them, it means that nothing can happen on those properties, development-wise.”
If bought out, the properties could become public green spaces, Bair said.
He said the flooding issues on Spring Glen Drive boil down to personal responsibility – researching a property’s flood history before deciding to purchase. Many of the residents on the street purchased their property or began renting their homes in the last three to five years, he said.
“There’s a lot more to the story than, ‘Hey, county, you’re not doing your job,’” Bair said. “I can tell you without a doubt that it wouldn’t take much research to see (the properties) are right in the floodplain. That’s publicly accessible information.”
Buyer beware
Homebuyers may access the county’s online geographic information system maps on the Assessor’s page on the county website at jeffcomo.org.
Information about stream buffers and floodplains is available on the maps, but if homebuyers want to discuss a property with an expert, Bair said the county’s planning staff is happy to speak with them.
“If they have a question, they can call us and ask about the history of a property,” he said. “We’d be happy to look it up. That’s our role, (and) we’re highly engaged in customer service to the residents.”
The Planning Department may be reached at 636-797-5580, or in person at 725 Maple St. in Hillsboro.