Commissioners OK $225,000 ditch project in Pittsfield Township over objections (VIDEO)

Watch the hearing ELYRIA — Following a 90-minute hearing Tuesday, the Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with a $225,000 drainage project county officials said will halt flooding on private and public property along Quarry Road in Pittsfield Township. The vote came despite continued opposition from one of the property owners. The Brown Ditch Lateral in the 14700 block of Quarry Road is overgrown and floods every few years, neighboring property owners said. The county has been designing plans to deal with it for at least four years. Commissioners came to an agreement to create easements, or agreements that give them both temporary and permanent rights on private property owned by the Tavenner and Waltz families, to clear the ditch and stop the flooding. The board, the Lorain County Engineer's Office and Lorain County stormwater officials said the plan is to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to stop flooding that threatens Quarry Road and the public good. The Tavenners disagree, Patrick Tavenner and his attorney Robert Gargasz told the board. In a presentation to the board, Chief Deputy Lorain County Engineer Peter Zwick said the plan is to clean and re-shape one-third of a mile of the ditch, clearing trees and replacing a culvert pipe. This will restore local drainage for 143 acres of farms and rural residences, he said. Zwick estimated damages to private property at "zero dollars," and that the benefits of the work outweigh the costs. No private land will be taken, no property will have its use changed, no buildings will be affected, no buildable areas will change, no usable land will be reduced, there will be no environmental damage and no trees or brush will be removed except what is absolutely necessary, Zwick said. The ditch runs parallel to Quarry Road and then east, ending at the old Lakeshore Railway tracks at Oberlin city limits north of U.S. Route 20. Brown Ditch has existed for 140 years, and has run in that same location and direction that whole time, Zwick said. The county Engineer's Office has determined the original location of the ditch remains the best and shouldn't be diverted, he said. The improved ditch will be inspected annually, Zwick said. If the work isn't done, the county will have to continue to repair the soil under Quarry Road and the roadway itself due to flooding and saturation, he and county Storm Water and Community Development Coordinator Don Romancak said. In an email on behalf of the Tavenners to the commissioners that he copied to The Chronicle-Telegram, Gargasz called the ditch petition "unlawful" and asked the board to "'kill off' this illegal assault" on his client's property "to prevent further injustice and injury and damages to themselves by your conduct and that of your agents." Gargasz alleged "nefarious acts, actions and practices" including alleged "unethical and unlawful" deception by county officials and called it "pure bull----" to say that his clients would suffer "zero" damages from the project. He told commissioners the Tavenners have spent $185,000 over the past six to seven years to argue their side, including on engineering and ecological surveys. Patrick Tavenner even provided board members with a book of evidence to review. "The three county commissioners here are not God," Gargasz said. They have to follow the U.S. and Ohio constitutions and the Ohio Revised code, "so for anybody to stand up here no matter who they are and tell you a perpetual drainage easement does not have to be obtained in order to create a public infrastructure drainage, they're simply not telling you the truth." The Tavenners have not given up any property rights, and the county can't take those rights without due process and compensation, Gargasz argued. There is a process, and the county didn't follow it, Gargasz argued. No one described the issue as one of eminent domain or a right-of-way easement, but rather as easements on private property for a public good. "You don't get to take my client's property without paying for it. This is America and that is the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that's Article 19 in the Ohio Constitution," Gargasz said. "Water is the common enemy of all men, and we need to try to work it and maintain so it doesn't damage people," he said. "But Mr. and Mrs. Tavenner's property, it doesn't flood. They're not gaining any benefit from this whatsoever." Having empathy for their neighbors "doesn't mean they have to give away their property," Gargasz said, adding that the Tavenners' historical family relationship to the property goes back to the 1960s. Patrick Tavenner also put together a "book of evidence" he presented to all three commissioners that Gargasz asked them to look at. Patrick Tavenner said the project didn't need to be done, and that experts he consulted agreed. The cost also has quadrupled, from an estimated $57,000 in 2018 to $225,000 today. He said, without giving evidence during Tuesday hearing, that the project involved "tons of fraud." "You guys really need to think about what you guys are doing. Again," Patrick Tavenner said. Pittsfield Township Trustee Mark McConnell told the board Tuesday the township was is in favor of the project. "I think it will be a major improvement to everyone's affected property in the area," he said. "We're 100 percent in favor of moving ahead with this project." Bryan Burgess, a trustee of his parents' property that is affected when the ditch floods, also said he is in favor of the project. "I would very much like you to approve this project," Burgess said. "Because I'd like to see the flooding permanently — or as much as we can at least — alleviated." Judy Waltz said she and her husband have lived in their home for 50 years and while she wants the project done, she was worried the county might take more of her property for an easement than necessary. She didn't want an easement of more than 10 feet. Zwick said more would be needed, and that rules were built into the project not to damage her property. Before casting his vote Commissioner Jeff Riddell said he had reviewed the Tavenners' evidence but said some of it was old and said "we're not going to litigate the last two years today." Both Riddell and Commissioner Michelle Hung said they didn't want to "kick the can down the road" and let a future Board of Commissioners deal with the ditch project. "To put it off isn't going to make Quarry Road or the community better," Riddell said. "While I'm sensitive to the frustration of inactivity of government or its employees, perpetuating that is not something I'm comfortable with from this chair." Hung said the ditch project has been before the board since she took office in 2021. "I think the project will be a benefit to the neighboring properties," she said after the hearing. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.