For many years the Montgomery County Drainage Board has attempted to solve a flooding problem in the William Shelley Drain. Since the 1980’s the area served by the drain has experienced flooding when heavy rains fall.
On Wednesday, the county board and the City of Crawfordsville agreed to begin looking for a solution.
The Shelley Drain watershed is located in the eastern part of the city. The area is classified as agricultural ground, residential and commercial/industrial. Only 5% is agricultural, 45% is residential and 50% is commercial/industrial.
Montgomery County Surveyor Tom Cummins told the board the cost of reconstructing the drain is estimated at $3.49 million.
Using the method used with agricultural drains the cost is divided by the number of acres within the watershed to determine what each landowner pays to the county annually. The assessment is added to the property tax bills of landowners.
Under the typical method of calculating the annual tax, if the project would proceed, the agricultural land owners would pay $576 per year; residential land owners would pay $6,558 per year; and commercial/industrial land owners would pay $17,955.
“I have worked on the way we usually calculate assessments and it is not going to work,” Cummins said. “We need to find a way to make it more feasible for land owners. Since this is mainly an urban drain commercial/industrial are taking the biggest hit.”
Cummins said he needs more time to come up with a better strategy of making the amount of assessments for all the landowners.
Resident DeAntha Wright-Thornburg expressed her concerns with the proposed project. She reminded the board that many of the land owners would have a difficult time paying the high assessment.
One of the problems with the drain is that when it was originally constructed in the early 1900’s it was all deemed as agricultural land. The growth of the city to the east has overburdened the drain resulting in today’s drainage problems.
Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton told drainage board members that the city is willing to work with the county, but needed an intra-local agreement spelling out the terms of the agreement. He admitted the city allowed the growth to take place for many years.
“I think we all understand the growth in the area was not well planned and in the past the city allowed growth to happen,” Barton said. “We cannot stand here and point fingers. What we have today is what it is, and we need to solve the problem.”
“I would like you to appoint someone from the board to be the one to communicate with the city,” Barton said. “I am requesting we develop an intra-local agreement with parameters.”
Barton said the city recognizes the drain problem is mainly a city problem and the city is willing “to make a sizable contribution to lesson the burden on residents.”
Drainage board member Doug Mills was appointed by board chairman David Rhoads to work with the city to develop the agreement before the next meeting on June 21.
Barton also asked the board to look into all possibilities of other funding, such as grants. He added that recent state legislation has increased the amounts available for infrastructure projects.
“I do not know if there is funding for this type of project available, but it would be worth our time to contact consultants to find out,” Barton said. “This is not an emergency. We need to take our time and look at all potential funding methods.”
On Monday, Montgomery County Commissioners approved $250,000 from the American Relief Plan funds to go toward the project. The Indiana Department of Transportation also has committed to paying $297,695 toward the project. Cummins’ assessment predictions were calculated with the county and INDOT contributions taken into account.
