Allen County Commissioners on June 27 approved a revised stormwater management fee schedule for the Allen County surveyor's office, authorized a two‑year mitigation monitoring contract and approved consultant assistance for floodplain administration and Community Rating System (CRS) work.

The County Surveyor, who took over floodplain administration on June 1, told the board the stormwater fee schedule had not been substantially updated since February 2008. He said staff researched peer counties and development‑community input and proposed fee changes that would recover approximately 80–85% of review and inspection wages; the proposal represents an average fee increase of about 14% based on 2024 data. "This would be an average increase of about 14%. And for 17 years, I think that's pretty reasonable," the surveyor said.

County staff noted the new fee schedule must be advertised under Indiana law before taking effect and estimated publication would occur in mid‑July. Staff indicated the surveyor's office will establish a periodic schedule to review fees going forward; commissioners discussed reviewing fee structures every three to five years.

Separately, commissioners approved a contract with Earth Source Inc. to perform required stream mitigation monitoring for the Trier Upper Branch project, an ARPA‑funded drainage project described by staff as the county's largest ARPA project at more than $3 million. The Earth Source contract covers the two‑year monitoring and reporting cycle required by IDEM and is not to exceed $6,100. The surveyor's office said the monitoring is required under state rules and that IDEM must accept the monitoring reports before the county is released from mitigation obligations.

Commissioners also approved supplemental agreement No. 1 with Christopher B. Burke Engineering LLC, authorizing up to $30,000 for miscellaneous floodplain management analysis and consultation. The surveyor said Burke representative Susan Botkin, a retired county surveyor from Hancock County, has assisted the county in CRS documentation. The surveyor told commissioners the county has submitted updated CRS points with the goal of moving the community rating from a Class 8 to a Class 7, which staff said would provide an estimated 5% flood insurance savings for about 142 property owners who carry flood insurance because of federally required mortgage rules.

The board voted on each item by voice and approved the fee schedule, the Earth Source monitoring contract and the supplemental engineering agreement.