Landowners split at Noble County hearing over who would benefit from Wolf No. 370 repairs

Residents and landowners at the Noble County hearing offered sharply different views about whether reconstruction should proceed and who would bear the cost.

Opponents argued the project would impose assessments on landowners who currently experience little or no flooding. In a written objection read into the record, Dale Stillman said, "I feel that I have no responsibility for this assessment," arguing his runoff ends on other ditches or in a retention pond and questioning why he would be charged when he perceives no benefit.

Several neighbors voiced similar concerns in person. One resident, John Kettler, who said he has lived near Sycamore Creek for decades, said the area has always flooded episodically and that replacing the tile “won’t make it go anywhere” when Sycamore Creek is full. Multiple speakers urged the board to study dredging the creek or removing beaver dams before ordering an expensive countywide assessment.

Other owners, including Brian Grama who represents one of the northern parcels, described repeated multi-day inundation on his property during recent record rains and supported reconstruction. "It's almost a 90 year old tile ... it does need replaced," Grama said, while acknowledging surprise at the projected assessment amounts.

Several attendees said they had signed the petition in good faith under the impression it was a maintenance review rather than a reconstruction assessment; some asked whether their names could be withdrawn from the petition. The board and surveyor explained statutory definitions of "affected land" and assessment rules under the Indiana drainage code.

The divergent testimony played a central role in the board’s decision to pause reconstruction and request staff study of alternatives.