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Boone County Drainage Board approves several drainage orders, vacates portion of Neals drain and conditionally OKs large Lebanon cold-storage project
Summary
At a regular meeting the Boone County Drainage Board appointed an acting president, approved several previously noticed orders, granted a petition to vacate the upper portion of the Neals regulated drain affecting three parcels in Lebanon, and granted conditional approvals for Bridle Oaks Farms phase 2B, Lebanon New Cold phase 3 and Park 130 Lot 8; the New Cold approval is subject to a finalized maintenance agreement and easement recording.
The Boone County Drainage Board appointed an acting president for the meeting, approved the April 2026 minutes and signed off on a series of drainage orders and project infrastructure plans during a single-session agenda.
Carol Cunningham, the county surveyor, presented the board’s recommendation on a petition to vacate the upper portion of the Neals regulated tile drain, saying the Boone County Surveyor’s Office received a request from the property owner (submitted on behalf of IADC) to vacate the section that serves three parcels in the City of Lebanon and that her office concluded "the future development this portion of the regulated drain tile will no longer be needed and no other lands are affected by this vacation." The board voted to approve the petition and to remove the associated regulated-drain easements from the listed parcels; the petition was moved, seconded and approved with no recorded opposition.
The board also approved previously prepared orders related to the Scott Simpson legal drain vacation and the Simpson legal drain reconstruction and relocation so those orders can be recorded, and it authorized signatures to finalize those actions.
Engineer Kirt Devey of Christopher Burke Engineering presented three development projects and recommended approval for each. He said Bridal Oaks Farms phase 2B will extend Fitts Lane about 550 feet and extend utilities to enable additional commercial and multi-family development, with stormwater routed to existing detention basins; the board approved the infrastructure plan.
On the Lebanon New Cold phase 3 project, Devey described a proposed roughly 288-acre site that would provide about 1,740,000 square feet of mostly refrigerated storage (with plan room for roughly 800,000 additional square feet), interior drives, parking, detention basins and a compensatory floodplain storage area. The project calls for a new stream crossing and bridge over Sanitary Ditch and a reduction of a regulated-drain easement on the south bank from 75 feet to 50 feet. Devey said the State Department of Natural Resources reviewed the bridge and ditch work and determined there would be no increase in flooding due to the project, and he recommended approval subject to final review and recording of a sanitary-ditch maintenance agreement; the board approved the project with that condition.
Devey also presented Park 130 Lot 8, described as a 670,000-square-foot industrial building on a site where detention basins and mass grading already exist; the board approved the project subject to final review by the county surveyor’s office.
Board members said a steering committee has been drafting updates to Boone County’s drainage standards (and one small related ordinance change), and they plan to circulate revised standards and return the item to the board for discussion or a vote at the June meeting after incorporating recent state legislative changes.
Votes at a glance - Acting president for the meeting (Don Lawson): motion moved, seconded and approved (no recorded opposition). - Approval of April 2026 minutes: approved (no recorded opposition). - Scott Simpson legal drain vacation order: approved (no recorded opposition). - Simpson legal drain relocation order: approved (no recorded opposition). - Petition to vacate upper portion of the Neals regulated drain (parcels 015-09531-00, 015-09521-00, 015-01212560-01): approved (no recorded opposition). - Bridle Oaks Farms phase 2B infrastructure: approved (no recorded opposition). - Lebanon New Cold phase 3 (approval subject to final Sanitary Ditch maintenance agreement and recording of easement changes): approved (no recorded opposition). - Park 130 Lot 8 (subject to county surveyor final review): approved (no recorded opposition). - Adjournment: approved.
What’s next The board asked staff to finalize and record the maintenance agreement for the Sanitary Ditch tied to Lebanon New Cold phase 3 before administrative completion, and members said the drainage standards and the single related ordinance change will return for review at the June meeting.
Quotes "Boone County Surveyor's office has received the letter requesting to vacate the upper portion of the Neals regulated legal drain tile," Carol Cunningham said, and she recommended approval of the vacation and removal of the regulated-drain easements.
"We feel like the project meets the requirements of the Storm Water Ordinance and Standards and would recommend approval of Bridal Oaks Farms phase 2B infrastructure," Kirt Devey said when summarizing the Bridle Oaks plan, and he made a similar recommendation for the larger New Cold site subject to the maintenance agreement.
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