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Board tables request to vacate RA Alexander tile; owners told to work with surveyor on relocation option
Summary
Owners sought to vacate a subsurface tile that runs through private property; the board discussed relocation, reclassification and the need for an easement to protect upstream properties and ultimately tabled the item for further work between the owner and county staff.
Property owner Brad Taylor and his representatives asked the drainage board to vacate the RA Alexander tile that crosses their parcel so construction can proceed on a structure located in the current easement. The request would remove the existing regulated tile from its mapped location so the owner could place the tile elsewhere on private property.
Johnson County surveyor Greg Cantwell and board members discussed options: a straight vacation of the existing tile (which would remove county maintenance jurisdiction), a relocation and reconstruction of the tile to a different alignment that remains a legal drain, or reclassification of the tile as an urban drain (which can reduce setback widths but requires technical review and consent). Cantwell told the board a relocation could keep the legal drain in place at a different center line and maintain county jurisdiction, but a pure vacation could leave upstream property owners without county waterway protections.
After questions about whether the owner would pay for relocation work, Cantwell and staff said any reconstruction would be performed under a standard reconstruction process: the owner would fund the work and the county would require construction plans and a hearing so the board could approve the new regulated location. The owner indicated willingness to relocate the tile to the west property line to try to keep the required setback on his parcel.
Board members initially discussed scheduling a public hearing; later in the meeting the board elected to table formal action and not schedule the hearing while staff meets with the owner to determine whether the drain can be reclassified as urban or feasibly relocated. The item will return to the board after the surveyor and the property owner explore relocation or reclassification options.
The board clarified that a vacation without a reconstruction plan could leave upstream users responsible for maintenance and without an enforceable county legal drain; to protect the watershed, staff said a relocation that creates a new legal drain alignment would be preferable if the owner wants the county to retain maintenance authority.
