Serving all the communities of the Buckeye Lake Region

Grant to fund 100% of construction cost





Above left is the Licking Fairfield Corporation pond and pump house. Multiple drains/tiles empty into it. A portable pump is in front of the pump house if needed to handle the additional water rerouted from the West Bank Homeowners’ Association pump house on the right.

Above left is the Licking Fairfield Corporation pond and pump house. Multiple drains/tiles empty into it. A portable pump is in front of the pump house if needed to handle the additional water rerouted from the West Bank Homeowners’ Association pump house on the right.

LANCASTER – There was a collective sigh of relief at Tuesday morning’s West Buckeye Lake Drainage Improvement Project hearing when Fairfield County Engineer Jeremiah D. Upp, P.E., P. S. announced that a grant would pay 100 percent of the project’s estimated construction cost.

About 30 West Bank Homeowners Association and Ballard Lane property owners were present for the final ditch petition hearing before the Fairfield County Commissioners. Earlier, 84 properties had received assessment notices for estimated construction cost plus for the first year maintenance cost. The 84 include four properties owned by the Fairfield County Commissioners; two tracts of farmland totaling about 77 acres owned by Licking Fairfield Corporation; two tracts totaling almost 14 acres owned by the West Bank Homeowners Association; and one parcel owned by ODNR.

The one-time construction cost assessments for homes range from a high of $9290.81 to $4,887.04. Fairfield County’s four properties would be assessed $3,599.21 for construction costs; ODNR is assessed $7,232.54 for one parcel; Licking Fairfield Corporation $15,011.87 for 77.2 acres of farmland; and West Bank Homeowners’Association $8,105.03 for 13.86 acres.

“Now we have a grant to pay 100 percent of the cost,” Upp said. “That’s a huge help.”

The project was prompted by ODNR’s decision in March 2017 to ban stormwater discharges through or over the new dam. Pleas from the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners, state legislators, homeowner associations and individual property owners to allow a single, engineered dam penetration or overthe top discharge to manage the storm water currently being managed by three pumps were rejected. The affected pumps are:

• West Bank Homeowners Association’s pump protecting about 40 homes and the Licking County Water and Wastewater’s West Bank lift station;

• A pump protecting the Ballard Lane portion of the West Bank; and

• A Licking Fairfield Corporation pump protecting about 100 acres of prime farmland and Millersport Road.

Upp said the county would take over the Fairfield Licking Corporation pond and pump. A 650 foot force main installed along the railroad bed would pump storm water collected in the pond west under Lieb’s Island Road, discharging it into the Feeder Creek and ultimately Buckeye Lake. Both the pump station and pond would be upgraded. The discharge from the West Bank Homeowners Association pump house would be rerouted to the nearby Fairfield Licking pond. Storm water from the Ballard Lane area would be rerouted through a gravity flow conduit to the pond.

Testimony was given under oath and initially limited to three minutes each. West Bank homeowner Ken Reber said their was no mention of ODNR being a beneficiary (except for the lot they purchased). “They are 100 percent the beneficiary of the project,” he said. Reber said the homeowners’ association has operated their pump for 50 years. “There is no improvement for residents.” He added that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report that prompted the rebuild didn’t prohibit storm water discharge.

Don Pontious told Commissioners Stephen Davis and Dave Levacy that he is concerned about the insufficiency of the current pump. Diann Richardson said her Ballard Lane property currently isn’t tied into a collection system, yet she was assessed more than $5,000. She wanted to know if she would have to first tie into the Ballard Lane collection system at her own expense. Davis told her that the hearing format could not immediately address questions.

Bobby Slater, who farms on the west side of the project, said the maintenance costs will likely be annual compared to other petition ditch projects due to the cost to operate and maintain the pump. He asked whether ODNR and Fairfield County could legally be assessed through a drainage district. If not, maintenance costs would increase for everyone else.

West Bank homeowner Kreig Babbert said, “ODNR is the sole beneficiary of this project. There is no engineering criteria for the discharge ban.” He added that the $200-300 per lot expected annual maintenance is quite a bit for many residents. Babbert said ODNR should pay the entire maintenance cost since there is no engineering to justify the discharge ban.

Rod Allen said the Ballard Lane area needs a bigger pump. “What we have there is not working.”

Bradley Smith, president of the homeowners’ association, thanked county officials for their efforts. He added that 70 percent of the association’s members are retired with ages ranging up to the 90’s.

Davis gave Slater an opportunity to complete his comments. Davis said the commissioners had set aside $60,000 for the project that hasn’t been spent. “Fairfield County local government didn’t create this problem,“ he added as he closed the 30-minute hearing.

ODNR Dam Tender Pete George and another unidentified ODNR representative were present at the hearing. They were not introduced nor did they make any comments.

While West Bank and Ballard Lane property owners were relieved by the $495,000 grant award from the Lakes in Distress program to fund 100 percent of the estimated construction cost, Buckeye Lake Village officials are disappointed that only $4,777.58 is left in the program due to an unusual “First Come, First Serve” application process. The Village submitted two applications:

• $64,200 for a stormwater drainage infrastructure study of No Name Creek which originates around Ohio 360, flows under Ohio 79 and through the KOA Kampground into Union Township and dumps into the South Fork. Both ODOT and Union Township supported the application. The creek regularly floods Ohio 360, portions of the First Community Church parking lot and much of the campground after moderately heavy rain events. Sometimes its flow reverses increasing flooding in the village and on Ohio 360.

• $68,800 for a stormwater drainage infrastructure study behind North Bank in the Village. Currently, storm water is pooling around the former Boat Boys operation near the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club long after a rain event.


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