Anyone ever been confronted with an Ohio Ditch Petition?
I'm anticipating a neighbor will be filing a petition with the county to have a ditch installed through my property in order to drain his farmland faster. (This is my personal property, not one of my rentals). The way the law works in Ohio - any landowner can petition for drainage improvements on their property by filing a petition and $750 with the court, the county engineer assesses the situation and draws up plans and costs/benefits, there are a couple of hearings, and then the county commissioners decide whether to approve the project.
Oh - and the impacted landowners have to pay for it.
In this specific case, Soil and Water told us at a residents' meeting that the guestimated cost, based upon other similar projects, would be $150k. My favorite part of the meeting: my neighbor and I share a wooded lot, and between the two of us it is at least 1500' long. The S&W rep said they would clear a 75' swath for installation of the ditch, right through the woods. (The ditch will likely be 8' wide - I'm guessing they need 75' for bulldozer races) When asked if we would be compensated for our loss of trees, here was the response: "We're not going to take your trees - we'll leave them laying right there for you to do with what you want when the project is over." Sigh.
So as I'm getting my ducks in a row to deal with this petition, I'm wondering if anyone out there has been party to one that has any insights or advice?
Let me know if I'm posting this in the wrong forum - Legal Issues seemed to be the best fit.