Residents oppose ditch petition for Tenmile Creek, concerned about price
Jul. 18—During a public meeting about a potential ditch petition on Tenmile Creek, attendees yelled, cursed, and made their message clear: They don't want a new tax imposed on them by county officials.
"They need to listen to the people," Beverly Lung, of Sylvania Township, said.
The Tenmile Creek petition is one of two recently taken under consideration by the Lucas County Engineer's Office. The other, for Swan Creek, also had an initial meeting, called a view, on Thursday.
Lucas County Engineer Mike Pniewski said successful petitions allow for permanent annual maintenance on the drainage infrastructure provided by the creeks as well as their tributaries and other connected waterways.
Storm water flows into the creeks and ditches, and if there is too much debris, such as tree limbs or logjams, the excess water can flood instead of flow away.
Without a petition, Mr. Pniewski said, ditch maintenance falls to adjacent property owners.
Approximately 70,000 property owners lie within the Tenmile Creek's watershed, and approximately 50,000 property owners lie within Swan Creek's watershed, Mr. Pniewski said.
To complete the $1 million to $2 million worth of maintenance that he is estimating would need to be done at the beginning of the project would mean an average annual cost of $10 to $20 per property owner.
"Some people feel if they don't live directly on the stream, they don't benefit," he said. "The water that falls on their property goes somewhere."
As regular maintenance occurred, he told the crowd on Thursday, that cost would likely go down.
In order for either petition to be granted, a joint board of county commissioners would have to approve it during a first hearing. Then, engineers would review the project in detail, including a cost estimation, and the commissioners would meet again to decide on final approval during a final hearing.
For Tenmile Creek, both the Lucas and Fulton county commissioners would make up the joint board. For Swan Creek, the Lucas, Fulton, and Henry county commissioners would be part of the board.
First hearings for the petitions are scheduled for November and December, and Mr. Pniewski said final hearings would not likely take place for another year or two.
Many residents who attended Thursday's meeting acknowledged that the maintenance work needs to be done but questioned the method as well as the amount they would be expected to pay. Some of them expressed concern that it would end up being more expensive.
Sarah Eberle, of Sylvania, lives along a tributary of Tenmile Creek and said she believes a lot of the maintenance needs could have been prevented by relatively simple work such as regular tree-trimming.
"Now there's too much damage," she said.
As someone who lives next to a waterway, Ms. Eberle said she expected to be included in the assessment for the petition. And she said she understands the need.
"If it's going to benefit the environment, I'm all for it," she said.
Joan Netterfield, of Sylvania Township, believes the petition should be put on the ballot to let the citizens decide rather than county officials. She is also concerned about the lack of specific details about how much it will cost each household.
Peter Dzubay, of Sylvania, said he believes the county engineer was well-prepared and did a good job trying to explain the law and the issue.
"We don't necessarily like being told what the laws are," he said.
Mr. Dzubay is reserving his opinion on the project for when the assessment is done, if the petition is approved, and the details are released. He has no doubt that the infrastructure needs attention.
"How it gets done is the issue," he said. "How it gets paid for is the issue."
