The Morgan County Drainage Board on Dec. 1 voted to grant conditional final drainage approval for "Project Louis," a mass-grading plan that would disturb about 356 of a 391-acre parcel and discharge stormwater to Clearbrook and McCracken Creek.

Dave Eichelberger of Christopher Burke Engineering, the board's third-party reviewer, told the board the submittal had been reviewed over seven months and that the firm "is recommending approval of the project with several conditions." He said the design includes 14 detention ponds, interconnected basins and a design assumption of 75% impervious surface at full development; reviewers concluded release rates meet county standards if those conditions are met.

The board required the applicant to provide copies of all regulatory permits — including the IDEM stormwater construction/sediment submittal and additional jurisdictional wetland/stream permits — and to identify any required changes to mass-grading plans once those permits are issued. Eichelberger also noted that the project must provide approvals from utilities to allow site features within an existing electrical easement or approvals for any relocated easement, and approvals for work in state or county rights of way for affected corridors in Morgan and Hendricks counties.

The board also discussed inspection and monitoring: staff said the applicant has on-site personnel, an independent inspector was hired and requested regulatory inspections would be returned within 48 hours; a pre-construction meeting had already been held.

"We are recommending approval of the project with several conditions," Eichelberger said, summarizing the reviewer recommendation.

Board member Kenny Hill moved to approve Project Louis' mass-grading with the conditions described in the review memo; the motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote.

Related to the project, the board approved an erosion and sediment-control bond in the amount of $1,767,000, to secure seeding and stabilization work if the contractor does not complete required measures. Board discussion recorded earlier, differing spoken estimates for the engineer's cost estimate were noted; the motion approved the $1,767,000 bond pending review of the bond language by Terry Brock.

The board asked that the applicant provide copies of all regulatory permits, utility approvals and any plan changes required by those permits before final administrative acceptance. The applicant and reviewer said the developer would return for phase-level confirmations if the actual impervious area for buildings and parking exceeds the 75% assumption used in the mass-grading submission.

The conditional approval does not authorize full site work in jurisdictional stream areas until the applicant furnishes the required external permits and any revised grading plans. The board indicated staff will continue weekly coordination with the applicant and utility partners and will monitor inspection reports as the site progresses.