West Kerr Culvert Stoppers Sought for Criminal Activity

Dowling Cs Signs — DOWLING ROAD crossing has the newly added feature of Kerr County Crime Stoppers signs informing passersby that it is a criminal offense to obstruct any waterway in Texas. Offenders have repeatedly stopped up the pipe at this crossing, costing taxpayer dollars every time a crew has to be dispatched to clean up the blockage. –Photo courtesy Kerr County Road & Bridge

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Obstructing a waterway in Texas is a crime and some individuals in West Kerr County have committed this offense repeatedly over the past few years, costing local taxpayers money for the crews called out time and time again to clean up the mess.

Now Kerr County Crime Stoppers has highlighted the issue and residents in the western portion of the county might notice that signs have been posted at the low-water crossing that has been struck frequently – 100 Dowling Road, just off TX27 northwest of Ingram headed toward Mountain Home.

On Monday, April 24, the Kerr County Commissioners’ Court were apprised of the situation by Kelly Hoffer, road administrator of Kerr County Road and Bridge.

“Somebody keeps putting stuff in the pipe on the upstream side so it reduces the flow. Which, that’s not something you want to do. It’s against the law to do it,” Hoffer reported. \

Whether it is to increase volume upstream for swimmers or whatever the motivation, the act is criminal. After having to send county crews out repeatedly over the years to clean out a variety of materials the suspect(s) used to stop up the pipe, Hoffer said she approached Kerr County Commissioner (Pct. 4) Don Harris about the problem.

It was Harris who suggested working cooperatively with Kerr County Crime Stoppers and the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office. Now, signs are posted at that crossing.

“I’m kind of excited to see if, maybe, this will change something on this. We’ve cleared that pipe out many times. So, we’ll see where this goes,” Hoffer said. “We are so short staffed at Road & Bridge that every time we have to stop what we are doing to go out and pull some stuff out of a pipe takes away from other projects,” she added.

Because of its remote location, they cannot check the crossing every day, so if it is blocked and we get a big enough rise, then the danger is that it could take out that aging crossing structure, Hoffer said.

Harris added that he hopes to educate the public on why the signs have appeared and to create awareness that it is illegal to block crossings on any waterway. “It will cost the county money and has already cost the county money to send crews out there to clean out whatever they’ve stuffed in the pipes,” Harris said. “It’s been an ongoing problem we’ve been dealing with ever since I’ve been in office.”

Hoffer also commended the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office for recognizing the problem and working cooperatively with Kerr County Road & Bridge. “They got right on it, and it was just nice to work with another department that saw that there was a problem and worked quickly for us to get stuff in place,” she said.

Anyone who has information about this crime or others is asked to send a tip to Kerr County Crime Stoppers using either the website www.kerrtips.com, by calling 830-896-8477 or using the downloadable app for smartphones or devices from P3tips.com. Anonymity is guaranteed. No tax dollars are used to fund the rewards paid through the Crime Stoppers program.