Drainage board tables Rusty Hills Solar request to build access drive inside Taylor Ditch easement

The Warrick County Drainage Board on Feb. 9 tabled a request from Rusty Hills Solar to build an access driveway inside the 75‑foot Taylor Ditch drainage easement, asking the developer to provide engineering profiles, NDOT access approvals and fuller coordination with the surveyor before any permit is granted.

Aaron Mendenhall, project developer for Trinaire Renewable Energy, said the access route would be roughly 2,000 feet from State Route 61 to a future substation and proposed a 20–25‑foot gravel road. Mendenhall said the road would be outside the eventual fenced substation and that construction access would be temporary but would require heavy equipment during build‑out.

Board members and the surveyor raised concerns that placing a permanent or semi‑permanent road inside the 75‑foot easement could prevent future dredging, complicate maintenance, and cause bank degradation during heavy equipment operation. The board requested a plan showing offsets, cross sections and a construction profile, and asked the applicant to provide NDOT coordination information. A member moved to table the request until the absent drain board member could comment and until staff reviewed the requested engineering details; the motion carried.

The developer said tabling would not prevent the project from advancing on its schedule and said he could provide a revised layout showing panel‑count impacts if the road were moved off the easement.