The Boone County Drainage Board on Nov. 17 approved two legal-drain vacations affecting private developments and denied a request from the Indiana Department of Transportation to plant trees inside a legal-drain easement.

Carol, a representative of the surveyor's office, told the board that Kathy had prepared findings and an order to vacate a portion of the Tomlinson legal drain on the Padgett property; the board moved and voted to approve the findings and order. Carol said the board had previously approved the Padgett-related vacation at an earlier meeting and that the findings formalize that action.

Carol also asked the board to approve vacating the upper portion of the Tributary 3 legal drain at the Beckman Park subdivision. She said the new subdivision’s drainage infrastructure will make the upper end of that tile unused and described the portion to be vacated as “just a small little portion of the tile that comes onto the property.” The board moved and voted to approve that vacation.

The board also heard an update on an encroaching fence and related tile-location work. Carol said the fence company can provide a 10-foot gate and that the encroachment agreement was revised to reflect the gate and the option to remove or bring the fence into compliance. She said staff used a camera to locate subsurface drain tile and “we were able to get about 3 fourths of the way across the property” but found multiple tile routes that will require repair; she said staff hopes to contract the repairs within the next week or two.

Carol brought a separate request from the Indiana Department of Transportation to plant trees in a legal-drain easement related to bridge work. She said INDOT proposed planting 40 trees and 20 shrubs inside the 75-foot right-of-way but that the surveyor's office, which manages maintenance of the legal drain, typically clears trees and vegetation to prevent log jams and to perform maintenance. "As part of that, it would not be our recommendation to grant permission to plant those trees there," she said. The board voted to deny INDOT’s request.

Unidentified Chair called for each motion and the board voted on the items during the meeting. The board adjourned after completing the agenda.

What happens next: The approved vacancies will be processed per the board’s adopted procedures; the denied INDOT planting request will be returned to INDOT for alternative planting locations, per the board’s instruction.