MANSFIELD — A final cost estimate for clearing and maintaining an 18-mile section of the Black Fork river near Shelby will be reported May 31, 2022, according to Richland County Engineer Adam Gove.
The date was unanimously approved Tuesday morning by commissioners from Richland and Crawford counties during a joint ditch petition meeting.
It will be the next step in the proposed work, which began Feb. 24 when the City of Shelby and rural community members filed a ditch petition that would clear and maintain the river between Mickey Road and Ohio 13.
The six commissioners approved moving forward with the plan during a public hearing on Aug. 5, citing Gove’s preliminary cost analysis that the benefits of the project would outweigh the costs.
Once the final estimate is complete, the joint ditch commission will make a final decision on the proposal during another public hearing.
The petition asked commissioners from the two counties “to study and examine the economic benefits to the City of Shelby and the approximately 70,000 acres of the agricultural community that lie within the petitioned watershed area.”
Petitioners asked that the river be cleaned and maintained annually by removing felled trees, leaning trees, log jams and debris piles.
During the public hearing, Gove said he estimated the clean-up project itself would cost $664,300, a one-time charge, while delivering an annual economic benefit of $423,700, mostly through improved crop production in fields affected by flooding.
There would also be an annual maintenance fee as needed, which would also be assessed to owners of 10,567 parcels.
According to Gove’s preliminary estimate, for the construction costs, parcel owners within the defined flood plain would be assessed a one-time fee of $11.25 per acre with a minimum charge of $15. Parcel owners outside the flood plain would be assessed a one-time fee of $7.50 per acre with a minimum charge of $10.
The maintenance fund cannot exceed 20 percent of the initial project costs and would only be assessed if the maintenance work was needed after an annual inspection.
The maintenance assessments, if needed, would cost the parcel owner in the flood plain about $3.50 per acre per year and would be about $2 per acre per year for owners outside the flood plain.
Gove told commissioners his office needs the winter months do to an inventory of the dead trees along the bank and the logjams in the river.
“We really need to get in there and identify and mark the trees that need to come down and look at the logjams,” Gove said, adding the lack of vegetation during winter months makes it an easier process.
He said his office has spoken with the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District about doing the inventory. Failing that, Gove said he would need to hire a consultant to do the work.
RSWCD has assisted in the effort thus far, including a drone video of the entire 18-mile section.
It’s likely the tree removal would not begin until October 2022 due to the fact the area provides habitat for the Indiana brown bat, a federally endangered species. Gove said the work will need to be done between the end of September and the end of March, based upon federal regulations aimed at protecting the bat.
Also during the ditch meeting, the six commissioners approved the transfer of $166,075 from the Richland County general fund into the new Black Fork Ditch Fund.
The funds represent one-fourth of Gove’s preliminary estimate. The engineer said it will cover the costs of doing the inventory and the man-hours involved with the effort.
