This map shows the updated 49 combined watersheds in Johnson County. Map provided
Johnson County residents interested in learning more or giving feedback about planned watershed reassessments can do so this weekend.
The Johnson County Surveyor’s Office will be hosting a public hearing on the reassessments from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Herring Hall, Johnson County Fairgrounds, 250 Fairground St., Franklin. The assessments are the third step in a years-long process to update the county’s decades-old watershed maps and assessment rates. The goal of the update is to modernize the county’s watersheds to better reflect current conditions, to ensure properties are being properly assessed for the water they drain and to ensure the drains can be properly maintained, said Gregg Cantwell, county surveyor.
A watershed is an area of land that contributes, drains or “sheds” water into a specific body of water, like a creek or ditch. Every body of water has a watershed it receives water from, and watersheds drain rainfall and other stormwater events to swales, ponds, ditches streams or creeks.
All properties that connect to a legal drain should pay an assessment fee for maintenance on the drain, but many currently do not because so much land has been developed since the last time the county surveyor’s office completed a full drainage assessment in the 1980s.
So in 2021, the surveyor’s office began the process of updating the county’s watershed maps and assessments. Phase 3 of this plan is the reassessments, which are currently charged as flat rates regardless of land use. The new proposed rates would vary based on the property type — agricultural, commercial, industrial, residential and exempt — making it larger for heavier users like commercial and industrial, officials said.
Here is the full schedule for Saturday’s hearing. Times denoted with a star are approximate:
8 a.m. — Exhibits open (Staff available to answer questions)
9 a.m. — Hearing begins (Staff sworn-in; opening remarks; overview of reassessments schedule)
9:30 a.m.* — Group A Hearings (Watersheds: Brookstone, Cedar Hills, Floyd Sheek, Lee Park, L.W. Jones, Marry Sutton, R.A. Alexander, Scott Tile, Timber Heights, Tracy Greenwood, Villa Heights & Woodridge)
11 a.m.* — Group B Hearings (Watersheds: Banta Ragsdale, East Grassy, George Montague, Grubbs, Hurricane- Griffith, P.R. Griffith, Rouse, Shirley Tile, Tom Campbell, Trout & Trout II)
1:30 p.m.* — Group C Hearings (Watersheds: Amity, Bradley, Clarence Province, Daniel Brewer, Eades, E.M. Fisher, H.O. Canary, Hurricane, Martha Atwood, Ryker, W.M. Fisher & W.S. Ragsdale)
3 p.m.* — Group D Hearings (Watersheds: Addie Vandivier, Covert Deer, George Shuck, Herod, John Park, Joseph Boles, Matthew Hazelett, Powell, Raymond Norton, Robards Pruner, Southbrook, Tracy & W.S. Vandivier)
