With the recent backing from the Porter County Board of Commissioners, the county drainage board feels its time to move on projects that have been lingering on the shelf.

The county commissioners last week approved $475,000 toward five projects that have been identified as concern areas for flooding and drainage hazards by county officials participating in the countywide drainage study.

One of the projects includes alleviating flooding near CR 1050N on Gustafson Ditch. Drainage Board President Dave Burrus at last week’s county commissioners meeting said the county will help replace the 18-inch sewer pipe that has been damaged with a new 24-inch pipe and sewer drains to gather stormwater.

Chesterton Town Engineer Mark O’Dell previously told the county that the town of Chesterton would be willing to add $50,000 for the project. The drain, located in northern Liberty Twp., is one of the 80 or so legal drains regulated by the county.

Bids for the projects are anticipated to be opened in August with work then beginning later in the fall. Out of the five, the Gustafson Ditch project and a second project in Sylvan Manor subdivision in Center Twp. are most ready to go forward.

Burrus praised Chesterton and the county commissioners during Monday morning’s drainage board meeting for their willingness to lend a hand.

Burrus told the board it was important for them to move forward with the projects as citizens have continued to express a high level of concern.

“We need to show the residents we are serious about fixing these problems,” he said.

Burrus said the current drainage problems are the results of “unintended neglect.” He said he hopes the drainage board will develop a system to schedule maintenance and fix or prevent the problems on a regular basis.

The countywide drainage study launched last fall, which is also being headed by Burrus along with firms DLZ Indiana and SEH Inc., aims to work with municipalities and landowners in accessing the areas where residents have reported drainage woes. Burrus said it would not be impossible to get to some of those unregulated drains but it could be a “challenge” since there are a lot opinions and concerns involved.

“It’s important that we deal with solving drainage concerns and not restrict development,” said Burrus.

Also presented to the commissioners was a memorandum drawing up 59 areas the drainage study lists as immediate action items requiring attention that could be attended to fairly quickly. Burrus said the county would be able to “pick off” some of the work without the assistance of outside engineers.

One of the areas mentioned of high concern is the Damon Run watershed. Board member and Liberty Twp. resident Ed Gutt raised the question of what entity would be responsible for the maintenance in the Damon Run, specifically in the area surrounding the new hospital on the Ind. 49 and U.S. 6 corridor. The site plans for the hospital were approved by the plan commission in May.

Burrus answered Gutt saying drainage board attorney Clay Patton and county plan commission attorney Scott McClure are checking ordinances and statutes to determine what the specific requirements for each entity are.

Gutt also told the board that he and plan commission member Tim Cole have discussed with U.S. Representative Pete Visclosky about preserving wetlands in that area of the Damon Run. Gutt said bills have been passed recently that may grant funds to the watershed for natural conservation.

County Surveyor Kevin Breitzke said the development around the hospital site is inevitable as the economy recovers. He and members of the board felt a need to come up with a newer system to better manage such sites as they spring up.

Breitzke said the county has been able to make progress over the last decade on regulated drains and about half of those drains have been assessed, but said the progress has been stunted because the county does not have a financial vehicle for drainage.

“It’s so important to get things done and not leave them on the shelf,” Breitzke said.

Burrus said county officials also want to know where damaged tiles are located.

He said that years ago when the county was mostly agricultural, there was a general awareness between farmers and their neighbors of where drainage problems were occurring and they would work together to improve them. Now that Porter County has become more “urban,” the general awareness is not as high, he said, which makes it more challenging for the county to fix problems.

Burrus said the drainage study could allow more residents in the county to realize the severity of the problems.

He thanked the County Commissioners for their continued support, saying other counties may not have recognized the importance of drainage solutions.

The commissioners this past year earmarked $1.5 million for the first phase of the drainage study which is to wrapup in the fall with the second phase soon following.