Drainage Board Takes 'Wait And See' Approach To 2 Maintenance Projects
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The three major items considered by the Kosciusko County Drainage Board were postponed Thursday.
Taking the advice of affected landowners who attended the meeting, the board decided to "wait and see" how summertime maintenance will affect portions of the Maish Drain in Warsaw and the Armey Drain south of Nappanee.
The Jacob Maish Drain running from the Tippecanoe River to Crystal Lake Road is mostly open. It was recently dredged.
Royce and Martha Cox and Kim Cox, along with three other property owners, attended the meeting.
Kim Cox pointed out a low spot on his land where water collects.
"See where you've got a pond here?" he asked, pointing to a blue spot on the map of the watershed. "That's a field but we can't grow anything on it because we get all the water there. It's a sediment bowl."
Cox said he maintains the portion of the ditch on his land and things had been just fine until the county came in and messed it up again, leaving boulders and debris in their wake.
County surveyor Dick Kemper said that wouldn't happen again.
The ditch is in debt $5,000 due to the recent work and the board was going to raise the minimum fee to $20.
The other "wait and see" went to the Armey Ditch reconstruction project. The lowest portion in that area is in the Paddlebrook subdivision, where a new culvert was recently installed.
Plans are to clean the entire ditch system this fall and winter, including the ditch along Ind. 19.
Plans call for installation of a 24-inch tile to go south across agricultural land to the highway. Currently a 12-inch and 15-inch drain serves the area.
Petitioner Tim Rock asked that a few inches of rain fall before reconstruction is done.
Costs to install the larger tile stand at $53,000.
Property owners asked why the water situation wasn't taken into consideration when the subdivision was built, and Kemper explained that there was no storm water review board at the time. One is in place now with proper ordinances.
Wendy Myers, who lives in the Seaman subdivision, northeast of Paddlebrook, said the three retention ponds there also need repairs. The Seaman subdivision is within Nappanee town limits. She was advised to go to the town council regarding the problem.
Residents of the Flagstone Terrace and Woodfield Estates subdivisions attended the meeting for the second time since February. Nine months ago, residents described permanent standing water in the residential area. The problem for the Flagstone Terrace folks began when houses were built in the Woodfield Estates area to the south.
Kemper said the subdivision to the south is causing more water to run into Flagstone, and one of the property owners noted the area used to be a wetlands.
Once again, Kemper noted, the plats were laid out prior to a drainage board review.
Kemper said a private drain existed in the area, according to old plat maps.
Last winter, county highway superintendent Rob Ladson said the highway department planned to re-establish side ditches along the streets around the end of March or beginning of April. This had not been done yet.
In May, a county highway crew found one private 6-inch, 60-foot drain that was cleaned out and determined not to be sufficient to carry away any significant amount of water.
Due to a rerouting of the drain, 2,800 feet of 24-inch pipe and open ditch on the south side of Winona Beach Drive to the Peterson Ditch, instead of north to Winona Lake, costs have been increased $10,000, to $86,900.
Manholes and catch basins would be installed on both sides of Tulip Tree, Sycamore, Pink Magnolia, Winona Beach and Beech drives and Redwood Road.
Property owners have received notices of various taxes to redrain the area.
In February, resident Mike Cox urged the board to take another look at the rate structure. As it stands, three assessment rates have been established, with rate one landowners paying $3,407 per acre, rate two paying $342 per acre and rate three paying $92 per acre.
The rates were re-established with two rates: some landowners paying $3,407 and others paying $260. There are 71 property owners in the 107.87-acre watershed.
Residents asked again for a restructuring of the rates, to make them more equitable, saying everyone will benefit from the drain project. An averaging of the rate would bring the costs to about $1,700 per property owner.
The item was continued to the Jan. 23 meeting.
In other business, the board reviewed a petition from Ken Schue, Bruce Howe Jr. and Dale Boggs to transfer a private drain to the county. The tile begins at McGee Road to CR 450S into Dream (also known as "Fish") Lake.
Drainage board members are Avis Gunter, Donald Goon, Dorris Harrold, Maurice McDaniel and Eldon Watkins. [[In-content Ad]]
The three major items considered by the Kosciusko County Drainage Board were postponed Thursday.
Taking the advice of affected landowners who attended the meeting, the board decided to "wait and see" how summertime maintenance will affect portions of the Maish Drain in Warsaw and the Armey Drain south of Nappanee.
The Jacob Maish Drain running from the Tippecanoe River to Crystal Lake Road is mostly open. It was recently dredged.
Royce and Martha Cox and Kim Cox, along with three other property owners, attended the meeting.
Kim Cox pointed out a low spot on his land where water collects.
"See where you've got a pond here?" he asked, pointing to a blue spot on the map of the watershed. "That's a field but we can't grow anything on it because we get all the water there. It's a sediment bowl."
Cox said he maintains the portion of the ditch on his land and things had been just fine until the county came in and messed it up again, leaving boulders and debris in their wake.
County surveyor Dick Kemper said that wouldn't happen again.
The ditch is in debt $5,000 due to the recent work and the board was going to raise the minimum fee to $20.
The other "wait and see" went to the Armey Ditch reconstruction project. The lowest portion in that area is in the Paddlebrook subdivision, where a new culvert was recently installed.
Plans are to clean the entire ditch system this fall and winter, including the ditch along Ind. 19.
Plans call for installation of a 24-inch tile to go south across agricultural land to the highway. Currently a 12-inch and 15-inch drain serves the area.
Petitioner Tim Rock asked that a few inches of rain fall before reconstruction is done.
Costs to install the larger tile stand at $53,000.
Property owners asked why the water situation wasn't taken into consideration when the subdivision was built, and Kemper explained that there was no storm water review board at the time. One is in place now with proper ordinances.
Wendy Myers, who lives in the Seaman subdivision, northeast of Paddlebrook, said the three retention ponds there also need repairs. The Seaman subdivision is within Nappanee town limits. She was advised to go to the town council regarding the problem.
Residents of the Flagstone Terrace and Woodfield Estates subdivisions attended the meeting for the second time since February. Nine months ago, residents described permanent standing water in the residential area. The problem for the Flagstone Terrace folks began when houses were built in the Woodfield Estates area to the south.
Kemper said the subdivision to the south is causing more water to run into Flagstone, and one of the property owners noted the area used to be a wetlands.
Once again, Kemper noted, the plats were laid out prior to a drainage board review.
Kemper said a private drain existed in the area, according to old plat maps.
Last winter, county highway superintendent Rob Ladson said the highway department planned to re-establish side ditches along the streets around the end of March or beginning of April. This had not been done yet.
In May, a county highway crew found one private 6-inch, 60-foot drain that was cleaned out and determined not to be sufficient to carry away any significant amount of water.
Due to a rerouting of the drain, 2,800 feet of 24-inch pipe and open ditch on the south side of Winona Beach Drive to the Peterson Ditch, instead of north to Winona Lake, costs have been increased $10,000, to $86,900.
Manholes and catch basins would be installed on both sides of Tulip Tree, Sycamore, Pink Magnolia, Winona Beach and Beech drives and Redwood Road.
Property owners have received notices of various taxes to redrain the area.
In February, resident Mike Cox urged the board to take another look at the rate structure. As it stands, three assessment rates have been established, with rate one landowners paying $3,407 per acre, rate two paying $342 per acre and rate three paying $92 per acre.
The rates were re-established with two rates: some landowners paying $3,407 and others paying $260. There are 71 property owners in the 107.87-acre watershed.
Residents asked again for a restructuring of the rates, to make them more equitable, saying everyone will benefit from the drain project. An averaging of the rate would bring the costs to about $1,700 per property owner.
The item was continued to the Jan. 23 meeting.
In other business, the board reviewed a petition from Ken Schue, Bruce Howe Jr. and Dale Boggs to transfer a private drain to the county. The tile begins at McGee Road to CR 450S into Dream (also known as "Fish") Lake.
Drainage board members are Avis Gunter, Donald Goon, Dorris Harrold, Maurice McDaniel and Eldon Watkins. [[In-content Ad]]