County Drainage Project Manager Dave Burrus at Tuesdays county commissioners meeting unveiled the first aerial photographs that will be used by county officials in their operations to lessen drainage problems.

The first twenty percent of the photographs from GRW Engineering were received a few weeks ago, Burrus said. The remaining set of pictures is expected to be collected in September.

This is the first time in five years the county has seen such photographs. The new pictures are five times more detailed and can sense and display elevation differences in one-foot contours.

Burrus said this "valuable tool" will be available to city and town municipalities who are expected to use the photographs for engineering.

"Everybody is excited to get this," said Burrus. "Its a resource we can use to put everyone on the same common denominator."

Burrus and Mike Jabo of DLZ Indiana presented the photos during a PowerPoint presentation. The images will be used as the county steps in to help areas requiring immediate action. These areas can be evaluated and engineered by the county without hiring outside assistance.

Drainage project heads supplied a memorandum to the commissioners this month listing immediate action items. The Gustafson Ditch in Liberty Twp., the Lake Eliza area in Porter Twp., and the Sturdy Road viaduct underpass in Center Twp. are included in that list as well as high concern areas like the Damon Run watershed and Duck Creek.

Jabo said a second memorandum with further identified immediate action items will appear before the commissioners within the next 60 days. During that time, workers will conduct almost 100 site visits and look for possible solutions.

The drainage project committee is now compiling the list of resident responses with what they found from county and town engineers. The committee has begun to map the locations with dots to look for patterns. Jabo said the patterns could show clusters that would signal to them they might be able come up with one solution that would be able to fix multiple concerns.

"Some of these problems travel a great distance," he said. The drainage project will not be able to look at every concern due to cost limits, but the committee is prioritizing to see which areas need the most attention.

Jabo said the county received 551 responses from the mailed resident questionnaires indicating no problem but citing problems elsewhere. The questionnaires also yielded 368 responses alerting county officials of flooding in roadways and ditches and 168 reported flooding on their property.

The committee is also looking at materials given to them by residents from the public forum series last spring. Residents have provided photographs, videos, and newspaper articles about their flooding damages.

Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper, D-Center, said he was impressed by the amount of responses (1,580) the county received. "You just dont ever get that many," he said.

Jabo said the county only heard from about five percent of residents and expected the response to be larger.

County Commissioner Carole Knoblock, D-South, said she expects there are more people experiencing drainage problems than the numbers show as some residents might not have come forward.

Burrus said the committee will need to work around the "weak spots" in agricultural areas where broken field tile lie in the vicinity of an unregulated drain. The committee may present recommendations for changes in ordinances in order to get to some of these drainage areas on a case-by-case basis.

A request to make an official definition in the county's Unified Development Ordinance regarding assisted living facilities prompted a lengthy discussion by the commissioners.

Plan Commission Executive Director Robert Thompson said both the plan commission and the county board of zoning appeals have requested assisted living facilities house at least five adults in care. The reason being, Thompson said, is that the state board of health requires at least five non-related adults in order for them to make regular inspections.

Facilities with less than five adults needing care may not get the proper oversight, he said, saying the county entities have expressed little interest in handling the inspections.

Patricia Irwin of Lowell, whose case before the BZA drew the effort to implement the definition in the UDO, spoke during the public hearing and asked if the county could also consider expanding the number of district zonings that would include assisted living facilities. The only zonings allowing the facilities currently are Multi-family Residential (R4) and Institutional (IN).

Irwin also asked what would happen to existing facilities that had less than five adults in care. She estimated around 20 assisted living units in the area that may not be able to meet the five-person requirement.

Thompson said he was not sure exactly how the county should handle those facilities or code enforcement, only that he recommends the facilities find more adults to fit the five-person requirement.

Knoblock said she would like time to think about the issue and moved that the discussion be tabled until the next meeting. Harper and fellow county commissioner John Evans, R-North, agreed to the motion.

In other business, the commissioners approved 3-0 a motion to declare the stretch of Meridian Rd. from the north boundary of Valparaiso and the southern boundary of Chesterton a scenic overlay.

Thompson also proposed an overlay study be done for U.S. 6 from North Calumet Rd. to the Portage City Limits. He proposed the county implement specific design guidelines as the roadway will become more developed with the opening of the future hospital at the corner of U.S. 6 and Ind. 49.

Thompson said the area also is near the Damon Run where drainage is a growing concern.

Also, the commissioners approved a second reading for changes in Building Fee permits for commercial and industrial buildings. Multi-story facilities can now be charged up to $5,000 for each additional floor.

Posted 7/21/2010