Kirklin seeks $27,000 federal planning grant to study chronic stormwater flooding as residents press county for answers

Tim Carson, a planner with the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council, told a public hearing that the town of Kirklin is applying for a planning grant through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCR), funded with federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars.

"We are essentially a nonprofit that works for Clinton County and five other counties," Carson said, describing his organization’s role helping towns prepare grant applications and outlining the CDBG planning grant program’s purposes and restrictions. He said the program funds projects that benefit low‑ and moderate‑income persons or address slum and blight and that a lead applicant must be a unit of government.

Carson gave the program details requested by residents: the statewide pool is roughly $1.5 million a year; the maximum planning grant award for a single utility is $30,000; Kirklin is seeking $27,000; and OCR requires a local match of at least 8 percent. Based on a recent income survey, Carson said the town’s low‑ and moderate‑income share is 53.85 percent, and the proposed amount of grant funds intended to benefit low‑ and moderate‑income persons is $14,539.50. He said the town would supply $5,000 from its stormwater utility operating line as local match. The application deadline is July 10, 2026; Carson asked for any additional letters of support by about July 8. Award announcements are estimated in August or September 2026.

The presentation was followed by an extended public‑comment period in which residents described long‑running drainage problems across town and urged that an engineering study be prioritized. One attendee said the town attorney had raised a concern that "the county has been taking Kirklin's tax money ... and putting it in the field tile for farmers," and said the attorney intended to investigate that claim. That allegation was raised during local public comment and the speaker said it was first mentioned at a county commissioner meeting; meeting participants reported that county staff, including Dan Sheets at a commissioners’ meeting, told town representatives there were no available funds at that time.

Residents reported previous camera inspections of county tiles showing sediment, root intrusion and partial blockages near the apartments and other locations. They identified specific trouble spots — near the church, the apartment lot and properties west of town — and urged engineers to meet with local residents who know where old risers and plugged tiles are located. Multiple speakers said older county tiles are often undersized (they described many 4‑ or 6‑inch runs where a larger diameter would be appropriate) and that private farming work and ad hoc stone repairs have complicated drainage and, in places, worsened flooding.

Carson said OCR now assigns a community liaison for each county and that he and local officials would meet that liaison to review Kirklin’s "community resiliency score" and build a resiliency action plan to include in the application. He also said engineers preparing the planning study will be required to present at least three options for addressing flooding and that the study will produce recommendations for implementation and maintenance.

No formal vote or council action on the application occurred during the hearing. The next procedural steps described on the record were: (1) collect any additional letters of support by about July 8, (2) submit the application by July 10, 2026, and (3) meet with the OCR liaison and engineering team to gather local site knowledge if the grant is awarded.

Residents and town representatives agreed on the need for the planned engineering study. Several urged that any inquiry into county handling of stormwater fee revenues be pursued in parallel so that local repairs and the planning process can proceed with clarity about funding responsibility.