Delaware County commissioners view proposed watershed drainage area; first hearing set for April 7

Commissioner Barb Lewis reconvened the Delaware County Board of County Commissioners for a January 2025 viewing of a petition proposing a watershed drainage improvement area, held in the commissioners' hearing room with video technology. Lewis said no testimony or decisions would be taken at the viewing and that the first formal hearing on the petition is scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.

Brett Bacon, deputy administrator for Delaware Soil and Water, guided the board through an aerial video of the watershed from east to west, tracing the path of an existing subsurface tile shown on county maps as a red dashed line. "I will say the current belief is that the tile is in good shape," Bacon said. He told commissioners that, pending survey and design if the board moves forward, staff expect to recommend accepting the existing system into the county maintenance program without immediate improvements.

Bacon said the county's usual follow-up work would include camera inspection and a formal survey if the petition proceeds past the first hearing: "we would camera it and survey it and do all the things that we usually do." The viewing was intended to familiarize the board with the area; Bacon and Commissioner Lewis reiterated that the session was not a venue for sworn testimony.

Two landowners who participated in the viewing said they had been involved in previous tile installations. Darren Skinner, who gave his address as 2503 Skinner Road and identified himself as living inside the watershed area, said he helped install one of the parallel tiles and described the system as being in good condition. Gerald Lehi, 3549 State Route 523, said the parallel tile work done in about 2014–2015 "made an improvement, helped a lot in the capacity, the time it would take for water to get away when we did have heavy rains." One participant described a parallel 14-inch clay tile as rarely failing and currently in good shape.

Commissioner Gary Merrill and Commissioner Jeff Benton asked clarifying questions while viewing the video; no board member moved or seconded any motion at the session. Commissioner Lewis reiterated that the engineer's report and landowner testimony will be heard at the April 7 first hearing, at which time the board may consider formal actions. The meeting adjourned after the viewing.

For the public record: the viewing used video and maps provided by Soil and Water staff; no votes were taken and no changes to maintenance status were made at the January viewing.