Public Notice IC 14-11-4 was enacted to ensure that adjacent property owners are notified of permit applications and provided with an opportunity to present their views to the Department of Natural Resources (Department) prior to action. Project Description: As part of a larger wastewater collection system project around Knapp Lake, a 6-inch diameter force main will be installed via directional drill from a lift station on S 950 W in Noble County to the Town of North Webster’s vacuum collection system. A short segment of vacuum sewer and related appurtenances will be installed via open cut to connect the force main to the North Webster’s Vacuum Station A. The only portions of the project subject to regulation under the Lowering of the Ten Acre Lake Act are dig ups within the area described below. Project Location: From 765 S Dixie Drive to the intersection of Dixie Drive and Backwater Road. (Location describes non-exempt areas involving excavations regulated by the Lowering of the Ten Acre Lake Act only.) Waterbody Name: Webster Lake Applicant: Knapp Lake Area Conservancy District - Dean Bickel, 799 South Circle Drive East, Cromwell, IN 46732. Agent: GAI Consultants, Inc. - Erin Wenger, PE, CFM, 1502 Magnavox Way, Fort Wayne, IN 46804. Questions should be directed to the agent. The Department’s jurisdiction under the Lowering of the Ten Acre Lake Act, also referred to as the “Ditch Act”, IC 14-26-5, applies to ditch and / or drain work within one-half (1/2) mile of a freshwater lake, ten acres or greater in size, where the ditch and / or drain work has a bottom depth lower than the legal or normal water level of the lake, To be approvable, the Department must find that the project will not: (a) endanger the legally established water level of the lake, or (b) endanger the normal water level of the lake, if the water level has not been legally established, (c) result in unreasonably detrimental effects upon fish, wildlife, or botanical resources. Additionally, the Department must consider the cumulative efforts of the above items. An informal public hearing, pre-AOPA (Administrative Orders and Procedures Act) hearing may be requested on this application by filing a petition with the Division of Water. The petition must conform to administrative rule 312 IAC 2-3-4 as follows: (a) This section establishes the requirements for a petition to request a public hearing under IC 14-11-4-8(a)(2). (b) The petition shall include the signatures of at least twenty-five (25) individuals who are at least eighteen (18) years of age and who reside in the county where the licensed activity would take place or who own real property within one (1) mile of the site of the proposed or existing licensed activity. (c) The complete mailing addresses of the petitioners shall be typed or printed legibly on the petition. (d) Each individual who signs the petition shall affirm that the individual qualifies under subsection (b). (e) The petition shall identify the application for which a public hearing is sought, either by division docket number (application number) or by the name of the applicant and the location of the project. A request for a pre-AOPA public hearing or notice of initial determination pursuant to 312 IAC 2-3 should be addressed to: Technical Services Section, Division of Water, Department of Natural Resources 402 West Washington Street, Room W264, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2641, Telephone: (877) 928-3755 or (317) 232-4160. You may also request that the Department notify you in writing after an initial determination is made to issue or deny the permit. Following the receipt of the approval or denial notice, you may request administrative review of the determination by the Natural Resources Commission under IC 4-21.5 and 312 IAC 3-1. This request should be addressed to: Division of Hearings, Natural Resources Commission, Indiana Government Center North, Room N501A, 100 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204, Telephone: (317) 232-4699. 10-28 hspaxlp
