Warrick County drainage board approves Kirby PUD drainage plan amid neighbors' flooding concerns

Warrick County Drainage Board members on Feb. 9 approved drainage plans for the Kirby planned-unit development, an 11.65-acre subdivision north of Oak Grove Road, after engineers said the project’s basins exceed county standards and will release less runoff than current undeveloped conditions.

Glenn Merrick, an engineer with Cash Wagner and Associates, told the board that “both detention basins have been designed for the hundred year to store the hundred year, and release at the 5,” and that the design goes “above and beyond” the county’s 50-year baseline. Merrick said outlet orifice sizes and storage volumes were calculated to reduce peak release rates from the site.

Neighbor Jeffrey Lockhart, who lives at 8833 Oak Grove Road, objected during public comment, saying the existing ditch that carries water west toward Liberty Road has overflowed in past storms and is too narrow to handle more inflow. “I’m really opposed to it,” Lockhart said, describing instances when water backed up onto adjacent yards and basements.

County staff and the surveyor explained the ditch Lockhart referenced is a natural drain owned by private landowners and therefore is not a regulated legal drain under the surveyor’s jurisdiction; they said dredging or maintenance of that private channel would be a civil matter between property owners. The engineer noted the planned basins will store runoff and limit the development’s permitted release rate to the pre-development 5-year condition and cited calculated flow reductions (from roughly 13.1 to 8.73 cubic feet per second for one basin).

Board members discussed whether the board could arbitrarily deny an application that meets the county’s ordinance standards. Citing legal risk of arbitrary denial, a member moved to approve the Kirby PUD drainage plan; the motion was seconded and carried 2–0.

The board’s action approves the drainage design as presented; it does not obligate any county-led maintenance of the privately owned downstream ditch. Residents who raised concerns were told they may pursue private remedies and that the drainage board’s authority is limited to regulated drains and ordinance compliance.

The Drainage Board meeting record shows the board approved the Kirby PUD drainage plan and will proceed with the recorded permit process.