The Porter County Redevelopment Advisory Commission might pursue the potentially ambitious project of preparing a comprehensive, countywide drainage plan.

Commission members agreed at their monthly meeting Wednesday to explore the idea after commission member Dave Burrus cited longstanding drainage infrastructure needs in South Haven.

Burrus, who is president of the Porter County Drainage Board, said the county is quickly getting to the point that it needs a different structure in place, such as an established stormwater department, for dealing with drainage problems. He noted that the drainage board is guided by the state’s 1965 drainage laws that involve drainage projects along specifically designated regulated drains.

But Burrus said the reality is that many drainage problems in the county have nothing to do with regulated drains, leaving the county officials limited in what they can do to resolve the problems.

Commission member Robert Harper, also a county commissioner, said that the county lacks a comprehensive drainage plan. Such a plan, he said, would need to include cities and towns, not just the unincorporated parts of the county, in order to be effective. He also said he believes funding would be available if the commission were to pursue the project.

Burrus asked the commission to consider drainage improvements in South Haven, where the existing infrastructure appears to be nearing the end of its useful life. He cited problems with rusted-out corrugated metal drainage pipes that could quickly plug up or collapse.

Estimates show that South Haven has about $6 million worth of needed infrastructure, Burrus said.

County Highway Supervisor Al Hoagland said drainage structures in South Haven have repeatedly failed, but that the problem is that the large unincorporated community was built without standardized infrastructure.

A drain could have a 15-inch pipe in one location and a 12-inch pipe in another, he said.

Hoagland said that usually, his department can pre-order needed parts to fix drainage systems, but that in South Haven, crews often dig up areas only to have to leave the ground open until they can find an appropriate replacement piece.

“We’re digging blind every time we go up there,” he said.

Commission members agreed to continue exploring improvements in drainage as one of their established projects.

In another matter Wednesday, members discussed an ongoing effort to re-instate a regional designation that would qualify communities in Northwest Indiana for federal Economic Development Administration grants.

Commission member Cliff Fleming is chairing a committee at the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission working on the required plan. He said that because the region lacks an economic development plan, it not longer is eligible for the federal grants through the program.

The region lost the designation in the mid-1990s, he said.

“It’s a funding tool we lost, so let’s get it back,” he said.

He expressed hope that the new plan could be in place by around the end of the year.

Also Wednesday, Porter County Plan Commission Executive Director Robert Thompson said a training workshop is set for next week on how departments and municipalities can use the county’s new Corridor Plan as a guide for development projects along the county’s major roadways.

The commission agreed to invite members of the Porter County Economic Development Alliance to the workshop Wednesday.

The county redevelopment commission meets at 7:30 a.m. on the first Wednesdays of the month.

Posted 7/9/2009