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Howard County drainage board approves Kokomo C Store subdivision after engineer outlines underground detention
Summary
The Howard County Drainage Board approved a preliminary plat for the Kokomo C Store at Dixon Road and State Road 26 after a consultant described underground detention chambers, stormwater filters and septic plans; nearby residents raised flooding concerns that the board addressed.
Rick Berger of JPS Consulting Engineers presented the Kokomo C Store preliminary plat and asked the Howard County Drainage Board to approve splitting the parcel at the northwest corner of State Road 26 and Dixon Road.
Berger said the project uses premanufactured concrete underground detention chambers and stormwater-quality filters, and — because the site lacks sanitary sewer access — proposes an on-site septic system for domestic waste. "The detention system is designed to restrict the water, and limit the flow downstream," Berger said, and he added the design includes filters and a final BMP to capture potential fuel or other spills before discharge.
The board’s surveyor (referred to in the record as Mr. Lake) told the board the subdivision request satisfies subdivision requirements, but said full site drainage calculations and sizing for the outlet pipe under the road were not yet submitted for site-plan approval. "He's meeting—he's making an effort to meet what I've asked for," the surveyor said, noting he still needed to review sieve rates for filter bags and the sizing of the outlet pipe.
During public comment, Paul Grant, president of the Hunters Cove Homeowners Association, said residents had not been clearly notified, described repeated flooding along a stretch of Wildcat Creek and asked whether the new lot would increase water into the pond near Center Road. "We had no notification that there was any drainage concerns that might affect us," Grant said, adding the pond is "probably almost a third full of sand."
The surveyor responded that the stretch Grant referenced is not a regulated drain the board maintains and that the Kokomo plan is expected to slow the flow from the Dixon Road discharge into the John Galbraith watershed, not increase it. Wyatt Johnson, a civil engineer and land surveyor, said the watershed feeding the area may be several hundred acres while the Kokomo parcel is about 2½ acres, making a measurable impact unlikely if the detention is sized properly.
After discussion, a board member moved to approve the subdivision; a second was offered and the motion passed by voice vote. The approval at this stage was for subdivision (the lot split) and did not substitute for later site-plan or stormwater approvals required before construction.
The board closed the Kokomo item and moved on to other subdivision business.
