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Porter County approves 10-foot wildlife fence and drainage work at municipal airport with staff conditions
Summary
The stormwater board approved the Porter County Municipal Airport Authority’s request to install a 10-foot wildlife-exclusion fence and associated drainage improvements, subject to design revisions and a signed hold-harmless agreement; county staff will follow with a final approval letter after stormwater management board review.
The Porter County Stormwater Board voted to approve an application from the Porter County Municipal Airport Authority to replace an existing perimeter fence with a 10-foot wildlife-exclusion fence and to perform related drainage improvements along Hotter Drain near State Road 2.
Chelsea, the stormwater program head, summarized the proposal: a 10-foot chain-link fence with a 36-inch wildlife skirt, multiple posts within the regulated drainage easement, excavation of fence-post locations to 54 inches deep and a proposed 14-foot cantilevered gate. Staff identified a 165-foot stretch of Hotter Drain with severe head-cutting and sinkholes and said the county plans to reconstruct that reach with 30-inch reinforced concrete pipe; staff asked the applicant to revise the design to ensure watertight connections and to use HDPE for storm pipe under county standards when appropriate.
Curtis Brown, the airport consultant, and Kyle Kubler, the airport director, described safety reasons for the upgrade, saying the northern airport perimeter still had only low, farm-style fencing that allowed deer, coyotes and domestic animals to enter the airfield. "Animals can enter anytime they want to, leave anytime they want to," Kubler said, arguing the upgrade is an FAA-driven wildlife-protection measure.
Board members approved the application with staff recommendations. Chelsea said the case will be presented at the stormwater management board meeting the next morning, and a hold-harmless agreement will be required and sent to the applicant; the final approval letter will follow execution of that agreement.
