Board staff updated members on the REDI (Ready) grant and detailed local watershed concerns that could shape upcoming work on regulated drains.

A staff member said the grant has new stipulations and that the board is "pretty close to to moving forward with the REDI grant," adding that MPO set a new timeframe and the office will send follow-up notes to meet the deadline. Staff also said they would meet with the Martinsville mayor to coordinate work on ditches and to clarify who will fill a departing staff role.

Board members emphasized public communication. One member suggested adding a short section on regulated ditches to Bill's outreach presentation and posting explanatory pamphlets and materials to the board's web page so residents understand what the drainage board maintains and what it does not.

Members discussed technical and jurisdictional limits. The presiding member and staff clarified that the board maintains receiving, regulated drains but does not automatically maintain every upstream creek feeding those drains; property owners sometimes expect the board to clean unregulated creeks after paying assessments, but staff said those streams may be outside the board's regulatory authority. "We don't," one staff member said when asked whether the board would clean a nonregulated creek.

On flooding history and regulatory constraints, members recalled 2008 flooding when backflow from Indian Creek and the White River aggravated local flooding. A board member said DNR staff conveyed that forcing dredging would involve substantial paperwork and may require executive-level approval: "You don't most have to have the governor say...an order saying we're we must clean this," the member recounted.

Operational next steps were outlined: staff will request a price/quote from Burke—who already completed a watershed study—for targeted work in the Walmart/cemetery area, and will prepare a classification of ditches for review at the next meeting. The board also announced a river cleanup set for March 21 at 9 a.m. at 3 Rivers and described plans for public education events at chambers and libraries.

No new contracts or budget awards were approved at the meeting; members recorded a range of follow-up tasks for staff including grant-deadline coordination and obtaining cost estimates.