Vanderburgh Drainage Board approves utility crossings, storage development drainage plans and schedules public stakeholder meeting

VANDERBURGH COUNTY, Ind. — The Vanderburgh County Drainage Board met Oct. 7 and approved multiple drainage actions, including an application from Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities to replace the Eagles lift station and extend a new 12-inch force main under local roads and the Norfolk Southern railroad.

Drainage staff asked the board to add the Evansville Water and Sewer Utilities’ Eagles lift station replacement and Force Main Completion Phase 2 Division A plans to the record and to approve the application to affect a regulated county drain. The work will include a new 12-inch force main crossing under Crawford Brandeis, under the Norfolk Railroad and Morgan Avenue, and continuing north to the existing Eagles Lift Station north of Boonville Highway and west of Colonial Garden Road. The board voted to add the plans to the record and approve the application.

The board approved an amended final drainage plan for "Macquill" (referred to in materials as Mackwell LLC) Subdivision, a single commercial lot proposed for a mini-storage facility (16 buildings) on a 4.6-acre parcel at 2700 South Green River Road. Staff reported an agreement exists with the property owner to the north (SLBB Orange LLC) allowing an easement for stormwater to discharge into an existing ditch; staff required the easement be recorded in the county recorder’s office as a condition of approval and said failure to record within 30 days may prompt rescission of the approval. The plan otherwise met code and was recommended for approval with that condition.

The board also approved an amended drainage plan for Platinum Mini Storage LLC, a proposed eight-building mini-storage development on a 5-acre parcel at 2400 Saint Joseph Avenue. Staff said portions of that site lie inside the Evansville city limits (2.31 acres) and portions outside (2.69 acres); the amended plan met code and the board approved it.

The board approved 14 submitted claims totaling $4,563.35, retroactively, and accepted several informational items: the Pigeon Creek Watershed Development Commission will meet Monday, Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. in the same room, followed by a public stakeholders meeting at 11 a.m. to gather community issues; the board’s consultant will conduct site visits in October and will meet with officials from surrounding counties.

Why it matters: The lift-station and force-main approvals allow work that will alter underground utility routing and drainage patterns and require coordination with railroad and roadway owners. The Macquill subdivision approval was conditional on a recorded easement before construction may proceed; that requirement protects downstream property rights and the county’s stormwater management system.

Members approved all motions recorded in the drainage-board segment by unanimous vote; staff said failure to record the easement within 30 days could prompt rescission of the Macquill plan approval.