In his 24 years, Roanoke Rapids Public Works Director Richard Parnell has never seen anything like it: Ten storm grates stolen from city streets, 28 from the River’s Edge subdivision — 24 grates and four manhole covers — and 12 taken from Carolina Crossroads.

“The cost of metal is going back up,” Parnell said yesterday. “I’m guessing they’re cutting them up and hiding them in other junk.”

He is referring to metal thieves and It takes effort to steal the grates, the public works director said. Many times when the city has to remove them employees use a backhoe because they are so heavy. “It’s not something you just take off the side of the road. It really takes two people to pick them up.”

The grates probably weigh between 100 to 150 pounds, Parnell said, and there only a few solutions to making them theft resistant. “We don’t like to weld them down or solder them,” he said, because it makes maintenance difficult. There are locking mechanisms but they are more expensive than what the city buys.

Another problem when buying replacement grates is they come as one unit, forcing the city to take them apart to use only the parts they need.

They cost between $185 to $235 so the city will have to spend approximately $2,400 to replace the ones stolen off city streets.

River’s Edge will have to pay about $5,000 for its own grates and the state will most likely pay for the ones at Carolina Crossroads, Parnell said.

Replacing the grates is something the city has to do because of the liability it presents, he said. “We don’t want someone walking at dusk and stepping in them.”

The River’s Edge storm drainage system is 18- to 20-feet deep where the grates were stolen, he said.

“It’s a balance between safety and liability,” Parnell said.

The Roanoke Rapids Police Department continues to investigate the thefts. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the police department at 252-533-2810 or Halifax County Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.