County Surveyor Addresses Flooding Issues With Mentone
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
MENTONE - Dick Kemper, Kosciusko County surveyor, attended the Mentone Town Council meeting Monday night to answer questions about property owners' flooding issues.
In the end, however, Kemper told residents that if they want the county drainage board to do something about it, they need to file a petition. And the cost to reconstruct the drain, he preliminary estimated, could cost nearly $350,000.
At the July meeting, several residents attended the Mentone Town Council meeting to voice concerns about flooding problems on North Franklin Street. Kemper was invited to attend the August meeting to discuss those concerns.
In his opening remarks, Kemper said that unlike 99 percent of the county-regulated drains, the county had no record of the drain being petitioned to be accepted by the county. The county inherited it in the 1970s because they did some work on it, but the drain never went through the usual channels.
There are three classification of drains. The first is a drain that is simply maintained, the second is a drain reconstruction and the third is a drain that needs to be vacated.
The drain in question in Mentone, Kemper said, has pretty much surpassed the limit of just being maintained and moved to the second classification of needing reconstructed. A reconstruction of the drain has been discussed for years.
"My guess is the drain is at least 75 years old," Kemper said, but he has no record of when it was originally constructed.
In the spring, the county spent $24,000 on the drain. Tiles were replaced, piping was put in from Franklin Street to the town's western corporation line and west of Tucker street and a tree with deep roots causing blockage was removed. Lawns were leveled and restored, and the sewer was jetted with the help of the town's utility department. With all the work that was put into it, Kemper said he's not aware of any obstructions to the drain.
If property owners want the drain to be reconstructed, that requires a public hearing before the county drainage board. Before the public hearing, a very general cost estimated for the project would be collected and every property owner whose property drains into the drain would be notified. The drainage board would decide on the reconstruction based on benefits versus cost.
The early estimated cost of the reconstruction of the drain, Kemper said, would be slightly over $344,000, "which is a huge cost obviously."
The county would not pay for the cost. The cost would be divided between property owners. Each property owner would be assigned a share of the cost, and they would have up to five years to pay it at 10 percent interest.
Kemper estimated the town's share of the cost would be $25,000, and the state would have a portion to pay because of Ind. 19. But, Kemper said, he had no idea how the drainage board would adjust the rates until the hearing.
It all starts with a petition by the town or a property owner, Kemper said, and to date, there is none. Also, even if there was a petition in his hand, the county currently doesn't have the funds available to proceed.
Town councilman Jack Simpson asked about constructing a surface drain along Broadway and through the Tucker farm. Kemper said that may provide some relief for the town, but it's not something the county drainage board could do for the town.
When asked why smaller tiles were disconnected from going into the drain, Kemper said he doesn't believe any were nor were any missed. If someone finds out otherwise, and it's the county's fault, he said they should notify him and that will be corrected.
The Yazel pond also was discussed at the July meeting and that the pond was higher than it should be. Kemper said the pond is twice the size it should be. It was designed for 5.3 acres, but comes in over 9 acres. However, Kemper said, the county only maintains its drain, the pond issue is one for the town to work out.
"All we can do is to make sure the county drain is working as good as it can," said Kemper.
At the July meeting, Simpson said the pond is four feet higher than it's supposed to be, according to a survey the town previously had completed. Monday night, Mike Yazel said that's impossible, and Simpson apologized for making an incorrect statement. Simpson said he was quoting a source from four years ago.
Yazel also said the pond "doesn't make its own water." He said the water that is there comes from the heavens.
"You get that water no matter what," he said, and there's limits on what you can do.
Matt Baker, who also spoke at the July meeting, said Monday night that his concern was for the mold that gets into his house's crawl space because of the surface water. At what point does a health hazard get something done, he asked.
Kemper said it would be one issue the drainage board would consider when weighing benefits versus costs in their decision making on a petition.
Kemper also said the drain covers 343 acres, and not all the affected property owners may want a drain reconstruction if they don't have any problems and don't want to help pay for it. There are likely less than 100 property owners on the drain, and they each would pay a share of the large dollar figure to reconstruct the drain."I think that's why we held off on it. Because of the figure homeowners would have to pay," said Council President Tim Croy.
