On a rare occasion, officials and engineers from the municipalities of Valparaiso, Portage, Kouts, Hebron, Porter, Chesterton and Burns Harbor congregated with county officials Wednesday morning for a common goal – developing a plan to prevent drainage woes throughout Porter County.

In a nearly packed room in the commissioners’ chambers at the Porter County Administration Center, city officials arrived to hear plans for the countywide comprehensive drainage study.

Drainage Project Manager Dave Burrus said the project is not about political boundaries and said the project committee wishes to form a cooperative relationship between the county and the municipalities.

“It’s simply a broad, big picture effort to get a view of Porter County,” he said.

Also present were representatives from the two firms which have signed with the county to consult engineering work, SEH and DLZ Indiana, and GRW Engineers who will be handling aerial mapping and topography for the project.

Anthony Kenning of DLZ said they have commenced phase one of the project and are in the process of developing base maps by consolidating current data and prioritizing the areas of concern where stormwater management has proven difficult. They also intend to identify costs for hydraulic and hydrologic studies.

Kenning said a series of four public forums have been scheduled for county residents to voice their concerns. The first forum will be held at the Porter County Expo Center on April 22, the second at Boone Grove High School on April 28, the third on April 29 at the South Haven American Legion, and the fourth will be at the Westchester Library on May 3.

Kenning said the Boone Grove High School forum may change since the principal still needs to give his approval. Each forum will be held from 5 to 8 p.m.

The county will also be mailing questionnaires approximately April 1 to those living in unincorporated areas and responses will be accepted through May 3. Kenning said residents can mail or e-mail their comments or bring it with them to a public forum.

Once the public responses have been collected, the drainage project committee will begin conducting site visits and screen data to develop an assessment report.

Phase two is scheduled to begin next fall with the possibility of implementing new ordinances and development guidelines.

Burrus said the purpose of the project does not aim specifically to change ordinances, especially in cities and towns, but simply to collaborate in looking for better ways to prevent problems caused by stormwater drainage. He said the study may find new capacity levels that may incite the development of new ordinances.

“Drainage does not observe city limits,” Burrus said.

The committee will continue to meet every third Wednesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. in the Porter County Administration Center. Burrus said all the reports and collected data are available to the municipalities at no cost.

Dwayne Dobson of the Hebron Stormwater Management Board said he appreciates what the drainage committee is doing and showed enthusiasm for future collaboration with the county.

“We’ll do anything we can,” he said.

Others like Mike Duffy of the Duneland Group felt the benefits of the project stretched beyond their boundaries.

“I think it’s going to benefit the whole county,” Duffy said.

The project has been backed by the Porter County Board of Commissioners who have set aside $1.5 million in county income tax revenue for phase one.

GRW Engineers Representative Rob Hench provided officials and engineers with a demonstration of the firm’s aerial mapping system using LIDAR technology. Hench said three airplanes will be flying over Porter County in the next week or two “when the weather is clear” to collect photographic data.

Hench said GRW has started laying six-by-two-foot XYZ targets at 30 to 40 spots around the county to guide the planes. The mapping will be done in one-foot contours throughout Porter County with a one-mile buffer on each side. One square pixel will equal six inches of land space producing a sharp three-dimensional image.

The county will be able to use the maps by September, said Hench.

GRW is also offering cities impervious surface data collection from the maps. The data would show parcels with impervious structures such as paved roads, driveways and sidewalks. It then can be used by the county plan commission, assessors or city planners to determine taxes to be paid on these surfaces in relation to stormwater drainage, said Hench.

Hench said the current contract with the county does not include impervious data collection but the option is available. Cities and towns also have the opportunity to use the data such as Chesterton and Valparaiso, which have expressed interest.