County raises ditch assessments

Jay County residents paying ditch assessments will see the amount they owe increase.
Jay County Commissioners, acting as the county drainage board, held hearings and raised assessments on the Wehrly, Little Salamonie, Ross Days, Halfway and Brooks Creek watersheds during their Monday meeting. They also discussed flooding in Portland.
Commissioners Faron Parr, Jim Zimmerman and Doug Inman unanimously voted to raise assessments on each to $2 per acre, with a plot minimum of $20.
Most residents who spoke at the hearings were against increases, or would have preferred smaller increases. The assessments were raised from $1, with the exception of Brooks Creek, which came up from $1.50.
“I didn’t think it ought to go up 100 percent,” said Jean Bantz during the Halfway hearing. “I can see a little, but not 100 percent.”
However, the commissioners noted, the Halfway watershed assessment had not been raised since 1991.
Dennis Rogers told the commissioners during the Halfway hearing that a dollar increase was necessary.
“I agree with it because we’re so far behind at $1 an acre. You can’t do any maintenance in this day and age,” he said. “In order to get anything done we’ve got to raise it.”
Ditch assessment revenue pays for cleaning debris from ditches and installing drainage tile. With the exception of the Brooks Creek fund having $1,800, the fund for every watershed discussed had a negative balance.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. That’s the problem, these watersheds have gotten to the point where we do a little work, it goes back in the red,” said county surveyor Brad Daniels. “Every year it’s the same thing and they’ve progressively gotten worse, so we’re trying to get them out so we can do the work and not be in the red at the end of the year.”
The commissioners also heard from Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman about flooding problems in Portland.
“We’ve been flooded downtown several times and the Salamonie River hasn’t got out of its banks,” Geesaman said.
Flooding such as last week’s comes from water quickly entering the Millers Branch, which originates northeast of Portland and enters the city’s sewer system north of E. Votaw Street, during heavy rain, Geesaman said. He suggested looking at ways to redirect or slow down that water flow.
“I think this is a major concern. If we could actually come up with a solution there that we could all live with, it would help out dramatically,” Geesaman said.