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Dearborn County details Randall Avenue wetland cleanup, allocates fence and engineering funds
Summary
County MS4 coordinator told commissioners a 0.37‑acre wetland and 346 linear feet of streams were found at the highway site; Metrc Environmental and BF and S contracts plus a $57,000 fence will come from a $250,000 appropriation while IDEM evaluates mitigation needs.
Miss Whitehead, the county’s MS4 coordinator, told the Dearborn County Board of Commissioners that a Waters of the U.S. delineation identified a 0.37‑acre wetland and two streams totaling about 346 linear feet at the highway department’s Randall Avenue site. "There is in fact a small wetland there. It's 0.37 acres," she said, and IDEM advised removing non‑natural materials while avoiding additional disturbance and installing a permanent barrier.
Whitehead said county crews have removed roughly 4,000 pounds of trash from the bottom of the hill and used contractors for specific tasks. The county hired Metrc Environmental to perform the delineation for $4,675 and has a contract with BF and S engineering not to exceed $20,500 to help with IDEM communications and a stormwater pollution prevention plan. The board was told Oler (Oller) Fence won the fence contract at a cost of $57,000 to secure the Randall Avenue and Manchester properties; installers expect to begin work around December.
County staff said the cleanup and related work are being funded from a $250,000 appropriation approved by council. Whitehead said $82,000 has been designated so far for the engineering contract and fencing, and additional expenses for soil remediation, erosion control and structural changes remain under evaluation. She described options being considered for impacted soils near the salt barn — including adding gypsum and reseeding — and discussed engineering fixes such as a French drain and Fleximat to stabilize erosion gullies.
Highway Department staff described safety constraints that required leaving some heavy items in place and seeking a permit rather than removing unstable debris. "We were also allowed to leave natural debris in place, to avoid unnecessary disturbance of the existing wetlands," Whitehead said. County officials said IDEM could still require mitigation such as plantings elsewhere if the agency judges the site remediation insufficient.
The board did not adopt any new ordinance; commissioners asked staff to continue coordinating with IDEM, complete the fence installation and return with cost updates if the total expenditures are expected to exceed the $250,000 appropriation.
