Residents had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the Mill Creek logjam removal project last week. Officials from Union County and some of the affected townships were on hand to address specifics of the project, which will involve nearly 12,000 parcels across the center of the county. Many residents have experienced years of severe flooding like this neighborhood just south of County Home Road.
(Photo submitted)
—
Residents of Millcreek Township are pleased to hear the logjam cleanup is finally getting going, but say the project is long overdue.
The Union County Engineer’s Office and Soil and Water Conservation District held a series of open houses last week to offer residents information about the Mill Creek cleanup project. The work to clear the water of logjams will affect some 12,000 parcels across the central and northern parts of the county.
Several residents at the meeting said severe flooding has plagued their properties for years.
“My property is right up on it and it backs up and when there’s a bad problem, I have to try to clear what I can off my property,” said Forrest Day, a Millcreek resident. “I’m glad it’s being cleared because it’s done a lot of damage to the property.”
He said the flooding fluctuates but if there’s heavy rain, it doesn’t take much to see the effects of the logjams.
Day has lived at his residence for 28 years and said flooding has been a problem that whole time.
“It’s constant. I just would really like to see a timeline of next spring, see exactly what this is going to look like and some thinking outside the box because this has been a problem forever,” he said. “I would also like to see some accountability. It’s good that the cost is being covered, but there are still maintenance fees and I just hope this gets taken care after all this.”
The project will be paid for with funds from the $11 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money the county received in 2021.
That year, the commissioners set aside $1.6 million of the ARPA dollars specifically for the logjam project.
Shelia Theisen, a second-generation landowner in the township whose property also touches the creek, said she’s glad it’s going to get done.
She said the flooding has been so consistent over the years, her family has lost access to entire fields.
“Every spring, it comes up and covers fields that we used to plant. It prevents you from using the fields until July or August,” she said. “So we’ve lost the farm-use of those fields for a few years and it gets worse and worse.”
County Engineer Jeff Stauch said he understands residents’ frustrations and part of the open house meetings came from trying to answer all those questions.
“We know that this affects a lot of people and we know people have questions, so we’re hoping these meetings can help them get a full picture,” he said.
While the project comes at no cost to residents, Stauch said there will be a maintenance fee but it should be minimal.
Residents may see upwards of $15 to $20 a year on their taxes, but in many instances, it will be much lower.
According to the website for the project, “approximately 10% of the project construction cost would be divided amongst the acres in the watershed and assessed to property owners in the watershed.”
“After that, the account balance for this maintenance fund would be examined annually. If there are adequate funds remaining for the year’s upcoming work, then no maintenance assessments would be collected,” according to the website. “Whenever the maintenance fund is running low, the county commissioners would determine what maintenance collection is required. This amount would then be divided amongst the acres in the watershed and assessed to property owners in the watershed. This would appear on the tax duplicate as a ‘special assessment.’”
The Ohio Revised Code says that the minimum assessment is $2 per parcel, according to the website.
Next up for the project is an official public viewing, which is so far planned for Nov. 8. Then there will be an official hearing in December and once plans are finalized, county officials are hoping the project goes to bid sometime early next year.