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Despite the notices, legal advertisements and even an advance story in the Times-Union, remonstrators against the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' petition to vacate a portion of CR 350N from CR 925E to the Whitley County line said they didn't know a final decision on the vacation would be made Tuesday.
They said had they known, they would have dragged the "hundreds" of remonstrators to the meeting to protest the vacation. They asked for, and the Kosciusko County commissioners approved, the petition to be tabled until Dec. 18 at 10 a.m.
According to Matt Sandy, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission assistant planner, "It's a dirt road with many water drainage problems. The plan commission has no problem with the road being vacated."
Jed Pearson, fisheries biologist, Division of Fish and Wildlife, said the DNR wants to vacate that portion of road to get rid of maintenance problems on the road by Durham and Pisgah lakes and to restore the integrity of the wetlands.
The gravel road extends approximately 6,280 feet between Ind. 5 on the east to Kosciusko CR 925E on the west. About 2,330 feet are within Whitley County, and 3,950 feet lie within Kosciusko County.
Nearly one-fourth of the portion of CR 350N in Kosciusko is within a sizeable wetland area and undergoes periodic flooding during heavy rain events and from beaver activity around the culvert under the road. As a result, according to information previously provided by Pearson, the road requires constant maintenance for which the public receives little benefit, and it is a safety hazard. The road also disrupts the natural integrity and value of the adjacent wetland, he said.
The DNR will still provide access to the lake and access won't be restricted.
The state owns the property on both sides of CR 350N and there are no abutting property owners. County roads to the north and south of CR 350N will provide alternate routes. CR 350N comes to a T intersection at Ind. 5.
Once the road or the wetland portion of the road is vacated, the DNR will remove the section within the wetland in an "environmentally sensitive way and possibly use the excavated materials for construction of two cul-de-sacs on adjacent state-owned upland."
Remonstrator Eleanor Vanator said she owns property on "both sides of the DNR" and has used the road for 55 years. "I've personally gone up and down that road 55 years," she said. If the road is vacated, she said, she will have to drive an additional three miles to get to her property. Also, she said, the road was kept up better before the DNR moved in there.
Also against the petition was Linda Slabaugh, whose property is south of the property on CR 925E. She said she uses CR 350N frequently and the road is seldom under water. Many farmers use the road, she said, but they couldn't make it to the meeting because they had harvesting to do. She said the road is traveled a lot and vacating it would affect a lot of people.
Commissioners Avis Gunter and Ron Truex tabled the petition for 30 days to "give the community a chance to get together to talk about it." Commissioner Brad Jackson was not present.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Tabled for 60 days Marsha Engle's petition to vacate approximately 300 feet of a platted road right of way located on the east side of CR 700E in Tamarack Hills Second Division in Tippecanoe Township. The commissioners want to gather more information regarding the petition.
• Approved Doyle and Elaine Munson's petition to rezone their 96-acre property from an agricultural to a residential district. The property is on the east side of Packerton Road, north and south of CR 375S in Wayne Township.
• Approved Darrell Johnson's petition to rezone ground from an agricultural district to a residential district. The property is on the east side of CR 325E and 680 feet south of Ken-Way drive in Wayne Township.
• Approved for the county to pay the administrative fee for the county employees' Flex plan for the next two years. Previously, county employees paid the cost, which is $4.25 per month per employee. The Flex plan covers medical benefits outside the county's insurance package.
New rates for the county employees' medical benefit packages also were approved. Rates are $5.07 per pay period for the family plan and $2.03 for a single person's plan.
• Decided not to pay $1,400 for the cost of tube lighting on the east and south sides of the Justice Building. Warsaw Community Development Corp. requested the county pay for the tube lighting. Truex said if someone else wanted to pay for the lighting, the county would provide electricity.
• Approved $215 per month for a postage machine for the county.
• Approved "Stop Ahead" signs on CR 300S.
The Kosciusko County Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. every other Tuesday in the county courthouse.
