Knox County holds hearing on raising maintenance-fund cap for North Branch of Ford Creek

Knox County commissioners held a public hearing on Dec. 16 at the Mount Vernon Memorial Theater to discuss raising the maintenance-fund cap for the North Branch of Ford Creek drainage project from about $4,680 to a recalculated statutory maximum staff estimated at roughly $57,000.

Commissioner Bill Purcell opened the meeting and said the hearing’s sole purpose was to set a new permanent assessment base cap; he noted the board intends to decide whether to adjust the cap at its Dec. 23 meeting and that separate annual assessments are set each May. “The maintenance fund cap is currently $4,680,” Purcell said.

Rob Clendenny, the county’s soil and conservation administrator, and County Engineer Cameron Keaton described the legal framework and the calculation behind the proposed cap. Clendenny cited the Ohio Revised Code provisions governing single-county drainage improvements and maintenance funds and said statute limits an unencumbered maintenance-fund balance to no more than 20% of the permanent assessment base. Keaton said he used the original 1976 engineer’s estimate and updated the three original line items—excavation, clearing and seeding—at today’s unit costs to produce a maintenance-cap figure staff presented…