Some Wal-Mart plans OK'd (6/28/04)

Part of the drainage plans for the site of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter won approval from the Jay County Drainage Board this morning.

After reviewing plan documents with county surveyor Brad Daniels, representatives of Jay County Hospital, and an engineer working on behalf of Heritage Commons, the board OK’d plans which will re-route a 15-inch drain originally installed by the hospital which runs west across the Wal-Mart site.

James Malone of Carlson Consulting Engineers, Bartlett, Tenn., said the 15-inch drain will be replaced with an 18-inch drain which would make a 90-degree turn north to the edge of the Wal-Mart property, another 90-degree turn back west, a third 90-degree turn back south, then a final 90-degree turn to the west to connect to the original drain.

The increase in the size of the drain would account for the efficiency lost by the four sharp turns, Malone said.

Malone said plans call for the Wal-Mart lot to be below the grade of the adjoining Heritage Commons property and for the building and lot to drain to the north where a retention pond would be built to slow the flow of water from the site into the Wehrly Ditch.

“It all ends up in the Wehrly Ditch,” said drainage board member Milo Miller Jr. “And we don’t want to get it there too fast. We don’t know what it can stand.”

Drainage board members asked Wal-Mart’s representatives to check on the location of the McNeil Drain, which appears to run through the property in the area where the retention pond is planned. If that drain needs to be re-routed, plans would have to be brought back to the drainage board for approval.

Board members also expressed concern about other development planned in the same area.

Hospital board member Bill Davis pointed out that the hospital has acquired 10 acres north of the hospital campus for possible future development. “Our hope is that in the future there will be other buildings out there for the use of the community,” he said.

Scott Neff, speaking on behalf of the developer of Heritage Commons, said his company plans to build 28 additional duplexes north of the current Heritage Commons condominiums.

And board members noted that a planned 40,000-square-foot expansion of FCC (Indiana) production facilities would also require drainage plans to be approved.

In response to a question from Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier, Daniels said that earlier drainage problems at Heritage Commons had been resolved and the area had handled recent heavy rains well.

As presented today, Wal-Mart’s plans do not call for the building of a berm to buffer the site from Heritage Commons. Board members said that if those plans change it’s important to make sure any berm doesn’t act as a dam, impeding the flow of surface water.

The plans approved today still need approval from the Jay County Hospital Board because the drain involved is on a hospital-owned easement it acquired from the late John and Margaret Finch.

In other action this morning, the drainage board:

•Heard complaints from residents of Bearcreek Township about the likelihood of a new large, hog operation being planned at the corner of roads 500 North and 550 East.

“Would you want a hog barn just across the road from you?” Mary Scott, rural Portland, asked the board. “I live in the country on a little piece of heaven, and they’re fixin’ to put me in hell.”

Board members suggested the group contact the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and noted that the county’s planning commission may want to consider making more stringent regulations for large confined feeding operations.

•Heard Daniels say that a retention pond at Patriot Paints had been installed properly according to its design but that the design was flawed. Board members said their intent was that it be a “dry pond,” retaining water only after heavy rains. As designed, it has about 30-inches of water at all times, Daniels said.[[In-content Ad]]