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DeKalb County weighs options to restore laterals tied to Frankyard drain
Summary
During the surveyor’s report on April 2, DeKalb County officials reviewed why many laterals remain "not on maintenance" (dating to a 2005 intercounty arrangement with Noble County) and discussed options — including subsheds with higher rates, combining laterals into the parent Frankyard drain, or treating some drains as DeKalb‑only with per‑acre charges. Staff will count affected drains and return with numbers.
DeKalb County officials spent the bulk of their April 2, 2026 meeting on a lengthy surveyor’s report about drainage laterals that are currently "not on maintenance," exploring administrative and funding options to restore those channels.
The county surveyor recounted a history in which a system formerly called Ed Haynes was folded into what is now referred to in the record as the Frankyard parent drain; when the drain became joint with Noble County around 2005, Noble objected to funding the laterals and only the main drain stayed on maintenance. As a result, many laterals that carry water into the main system have remained unfunded and need repair.
Officials discussed several possible approaches rather than committing to a single solution. One option is to ask Noble County to re‑include the laterals in the Frankyard parent drain; another is to create separate subsheds for those laterals and raise the maintenance rate for those subsheds so the arrangement is financially palatable to Noble County. A DeKalb‑only approach — keeping certain laterals as county‑only drains assessed on an acre‑or‑cost basis — was also debated.
The county surveyor framed the subshed option this way: "we could take those watersheds and make them a separate subshed for that main with a higher rate," noting that increasing the per‑acre assessment for a subshed could make inclusion under the parent drain more feasible. Board members discussed equity concerns, noting residents on the DeKalb side currently pay into the Frankyard account even though some tributaries on their side are not functioning.
Staff ran a Beacon GIS demonstration to show parcel records for representative properties; those parcel reports were used as planning examples and showed roughly $150 per acre assessments on sampled parcels. Members discussed cost‑savings for public notices by packaging assessments with tax statements, and they flagged mailing expense as a factor in any mass reclassification.
No formal vote was taken. County staff were directed to compile a count of affected drains (joint and DeKalb‑only), estimate the maintenance cost implications and return with those numbers at the next meeting to inform whether to pursue negotiations with Noble County or to propose local rate adjustments.
The discussion referenced prior collaborative maintenance work on the Frankyard in the 2010s but emphasized that most laterals have not been addressed recently and that several have structural or hydrologic problems requiring remediation. Board members noted legal and procedural steps will be required for any combination or reassessment, and they left the item for staff follow‑up.
