Watershed plan draws complaint

A Greene Township resident spoke out against a proposed watershed combination to the Jay County Drainage Board this morning.

Terry LeMaster, who also currently serves as county assessor, addressed the Jay County Commissioners in their capacity as drainage board about his opposition to a plan to combine several smaller watersheds into the Salamonie River watershed.

LeMaster felt that the plan was a method to use ditch assessments collected for the Salamonie to subsidize work in the proposed areas.

"That money is my money," LeMaster said of the ditch assessments he pays and added later, "I think you're going the wrong way on it."

County surveyor Brad Daniels has said in past meetings that the combination should allow more work to be done in the smaller watersheds since material and labor prices would wipe out the balance since those funds collect such small from assessments.

The combination would also make for easier management, since instead of trying to maintain several funds with varied assessments, the surveyor's office would only have to handle one large watershed with one assessment rate.

"It makes more sense to have a larger watershed," Daniels said.

Drainage board president and commissioner Jim Zimmerman countered LeMaster's argument by stating that the proposed combination includes only watersheds that currently have a positive balance.

"There's not one of these that's in the red," he said and argued that "They're going to add to your (Salamonie) fund."

While arguing the merits of largers watersheds, commissioner Milo Miller Jr. mentioned that the county could even do with far less watersheds that it would have after the Salamonie combo.

"I think there only ought to be three watersheds in the county," he said, stating that all the water in the county either drains into the Salamonie, Wabash or Mississinewa rivers.

LeMaster said that if the smaller watersheds need more funds, that the drainage board should just raise assessments to meet the need and said he thought the commissioners hatched the combination on a whim.

"This isn't on a whim," Zimmerman defended. "It's a change we can do to make things easier."

A public hearing on the issue is slated to take place in late April. All affected property owners will be notified by mail of the meeting.

In other business this morning, the commissioners:

•Reappointed Sharon Hammers to the Jay County Hospital Board of Trustees.

•Made Jay County prosecutor Bob Clamme purchasing agent to buy a new copier at a cost of $7,825. It will replace the current copier in the office that is seven years old.[[In-content Ad]]