Drain Board approves Eastburn Farm minor plat; resident raises drainage concerns

The Johnson County Drain Board approved the Eastburn Farm minor plat July 1, granting a waiver for one detention outlet orifice to be reduced from four inches to three inches and requiring the developer to submit construction documents and an operations-and-maintenance manual for final approval by the planning engineer.

“For the record, Richard Hoover, Johnson County planning engineer. We've reviewed the site. They do have 1 waiver that they're requesting, for the facility that's on Lot 3, to go from a 4 inch to a 3 inch orifice... We recommend approval of the waiver,” Hoover said.

Presenter Andrew Farcosi, representing the property owner Terry Johnson, said the subdivision will enlarge previously approved roadside lots and add detention to slow runoff. “So what we've designed, the area is kind of comes off in different directions. So we've designed it to collect, where we can from the impervious surface and slow down to the regulations of the county and then slowly release it,” Farcosi said.

Nearby resident Ricky Zrey asked how new detention would affect his property at 6498 Watson Road and expressed concern about existing clay tile and groundwater. Zrey asked whether construction would disturb an underdrain tile and whether the detention could increase standing water on his property. Farcosi and Hoover explained that the detention is intended to reduce runoff by capturing and slowly releasing water, and that work would avoid damaging existing tile where possible. “So we're actually placing an outlet structure on the ground pretty much, so we're not getting deep, and we're building this up to stop the water as it comes through,” Farcosi told Zrey.

After discussion and public comment, a motion to approve the waiver and require submission of construction documents and the O&M manual to the planning engineer carried by voice vote.