The Chippewa Creek Watershed Project is a flood control project that began in 1956 and was completed in 1980 with the construction of eight dams. It encompasses 188 square miles (120,320 acres) in northern Wayne and southern Medina counties.
The watershed project was established to reduce the acreage prone to flooding, and to reduce the actual time periods of inundation.
The Chippewa Creek runs through Medina and Wayne counties to the Tuscarawas River, which is a tributary of the Muskingum River. It had been the source of major flooding in both urban and rural areas, including a devastating flood in 1969.
That year, more than 11 inches of rain fell in a 72-hour period over the July 4 holiday weekend, resulting in $11 million in damage to Wayne County and about $400,000 of damage in Medina County. In a four-county area, 17 people died and at least 100 bridges and related structures, along with numerous roads, were damaged by the flooding.
Much of the flooding over the years in the Chippewa Creek Watershed region was related to debris and sediment clogging the creek and tributaries, making them unable to handle increased drainage loads during heavy rains and spring thaws. Residential and commercial development increased runoff rates to this already overburdened drainage system.
To carry out the flood control project, the Chippewa Subdistrict of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District was formed. The MWCD serves as the administrative arm of the watershed project, handling its business and financial affairs. The Subdistrict is governed by a Conservancy Court of two common pleas judges, Judge Jill R. Heck of Medina County and Judge Mark K. Wiest of Wayne County.
Physical Characteristics of the Chippewa Subdistrict
Eight flood control dams were constructed in Medina and Wayne counties and improvements were made to 33 miles of channel along the Chippewa Creek. Four of the dams include wet sediment/conservation pools and the other four only impound water during times of flooding and are considered dry dams.
The channel improvements were made in the drainage area of the Chippewa Creek and its tributaries, including the River Styx and the Little Chippewa.
Funding history of the Chippewa Subdistrict
The original construction of the dams in the Chippewa Creek Watershed Project was funded through a federal program for smaller watersheds. Since then, funding for the ongoing maintenance of the flood control structures, banks and berms comes from a maintenance assessment of about 1,200 landowners who are considered to benefit directly from the structures.
This assessment was established in 1980 and generates about $15,000 annually for the maintenance work. However, since that time the costs associated with performing routine maintenance, along with mandated and suggested upgrades to the project have increased substantially. The $15,000 annual collection has been unable to cover the costs of these basic needs, along with the necessary upgrades that have been identified.
In fact, the cost of mowing the channel banks each year already exceeds this amount.
The result is that the channels and flood control dams have been deteriorating due to the lack of funds to provide timely maintenance. This situation has left the 33 miles of channel incapable of providing the basic flood control protection for which they were designed and the dams could be damaged or fail if the routine maintenance is not performed.
Channel maintenance includes the removal of sediment deposits caused by bank erosion and bank slips, the removal of heavy woody growth along the banks that impede flows and the repair of drainage structures on creeks and ditches entering the channels. Corrosion of the concrete spillways and sediment deposited in the flood pools are the primary maintenance concerns on the flood control dams.
In 1997, an engineer's study of the project estimated that $309,000 per year over a six-year period would provide satisfactory annual maintenance on the channels and dams and return the project to its original condition, allowing it to provide the basic flood control protection for which it was designed. A current engineer's estimate has increased that need to $350,000 per year over the six years.
Conservancy Court considers information in engineer's report
With the information from the engineer's estimate, the Board of Directors of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District - which also has jurisdiction in the business and financial affairs of the Chippewa Subdistrict - determined that a material change in the values of the property in the Subdistrict had occurred and that additional benefits were being derived from the works and improvements of the Subdistrict. The Board agreed to petition the Chippewa Conservancy Court for a readjustment of the appraisal of benefits.
In 1998, the two-judge Chippewa Conservancy Court convened and agreed with the determination by the MWCD Board of Directors. The Court then ordered that a reappraisal of benefits be conducted.
This process is governed by Ohio law. Members of the Chippewa Subdistrict Board of Appraisers handled the procedure of readjusting the appraisal of benefits and recently completed their Conservancy Appraisal Report.
Chippewa Subdistrict Task Force
One of the first steps taken in the process of the reappraisal of benefits was the formation of the 18-member Chippewa Citizens Task Force based on the recommendation of the Chippewa Conservancy Court. Residents of the Chippewa Creek Watershed volunteer their time to meet on a periodic basic and review the condition of the flood control structures and advise the MWCD staff on how to proceed with funding and maintenance projects. Following are the members of the Task Force:
- Robert Dotterer, Rittman
- James R. Gresser, Smithville
- John E. Hocker, Lodi
- Glen Hoerger, Wadsworth
- Robert Kellogg, Rittman
- Donald D. Kosier, Marshallville
- John C. Lorson, Orrville
- Edward W. Maibach, Sterling
- Glen Miller, Sterling
- Rick Perry, Burbank
- Marvin Ramsier, Rittman
- Earl J. Rupp, Sterling
- Kenneth Rupp, Seville
- Donald C. Steiner, Rittman
- John D. Steiner, Creston
- Carl Steiner, Sterling
- Dave Vuylsteke, Rittman
The Task Force members spent several years working with the MWCD Board of Appraisers and staff on the readjustment of the appraisal of benefits after determining that a readjustment would be appropriate and could provide for current costs to adequately maintain the flood control structures within the watershed. The Task Force reviewed the work that went into this process and has endorsed it.
Factors guiding readjustment of appraisal of benefits
In evaluating past and current conditions relative to the Chippewa Subdistrict, the Board of Appraisers gave consideration to several primary factors:
- The need for an upward adjustment to the benefit appraisals was found to be clearly justified by the Board, considering general inflation trends of the past 30-plus-year period, and the increases in costs for maintenance and repairs to the flood control improvements within the Chippewa Subdistrict.
- Revised appraisals needed to be made, in a way that would be fair to all property owners within the Chippewa Subdistrict, relative to their benefits received from the flood control project.
- Preliminary work by the Board found that it was unreasonable for those properties in the Chippewa Subdistrict that are directly benefited, and are presently being assessed, to continue bearing the entire burden of readjusted appraisals. The Board determined that it was most equitable for all properties lying within the boundaries of the Chippewa Subdistrict to contribute to project maintenance costs, since they are all benefited by the project. The revised appraisals would need to distinguish between those properties benefited both directly and indirectly and those only indirectly benefited in the calculation of benefits.
- The original methodology used in determining the appraisals for the directly benefited properties in the original appraisal record was found to remain valid and appropriate, although the original, unadjusted benefits were found to be grossly underestimated relative to current market and economic conditions. A separate inflationary adjustment to these original appraisals was determined to be the most reasonable and appropriate means of correction and adjustment applicable to the findings of the original appraisal record. This was coupled with an indirect benefit appraisal applicable to all properties within the Chippewa Subdistrict.
Properties receiving "Direct Flood Reduction Benefits" are lying within the flood hazard zone of the Chippewa Creek channel, as defined in the original appraisal record. Properties in this area currently are being assessed.
Properties receiving "Indirect Flood Reduction Benefits" include all properties in Medina and Wayne counties lying within the boundaries of the Chippewa Subdistrict. These properties receive the indirect benefits from being protected against the indirect effects of flooding, and they may or may not be subject to direct property damage. A database was developed using public property records from Medina and Wayne counties in which properties at or near the edge of the Subdistrict boundary were verified as to their location within the Chippewa Subdistrict. The database was found to contain approximately 34,000 permanent parcel numbers within the boundaries of the Chippewa Subdistrict. This is a number that varies from year to year.
Assessment Formulas
The following formulas were developed for collection of assessments for properties receiving either direct flood reduction benefits and properties receiving indirect flood reduction benefits.
Properties Receiving Direct Flood Benefits
Present Assessment = Future Assessment * Inflation.
Please note: While it was determined that the present benefit had increased four times due to inflation, the new suggested assessment rate was reduced from 2 percent of the appraised value to 0.5 percent. This results in an assessment that is identical to the prior one.
Properties Receiving Indirect Flood Benefits
Indirect benefits are appraised by using the county auditor's appraised value of a parcel and multiplying it by 2 percent. The assessment is then computed by multiplying that benefit by 0.5 percent.
As an example:
A parcel appraised at $100,000 by the county auditor's office would have that figure multiplied by 2 percent, resulting in a benefit of $2,000. This figure then would be multiplied by 0.5 percent, providing an assessment of $10 per year.
A property or home valued at $150,000 per year would pay an assessment of $15 per year and a property or home valued at $50,000 would pay an assessment of $5 per year.
According to state law, the minimum assessment to be collected is $2. Therefore, all properties with an appraised value of $10,000 or less would pay an assessment of $2 per year.
NOTE: COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENTS MAY BEGIN IN JANUARY 2003 WHEN PROPERTY TAX STATEMENTS USUALLY ARE SENT TO PROPERTY OWNERS.
Individual Parcel Assessments Can Be Found On This Website
The other section of this website is the actual Conservancy Appraisal Record as filed with the Conservancy Court. It contains the estimated assessments for individual parcels within the Chippewa Subdistrict. Parcel owners can check the assessments for their properties through a feature that searches by names.
NOTE: ASSESSMENTS LISTED ON THIS SITE ARE BASED ON THE MOST UPDATED PROPERTY APPRAISAL FIGURES AVAILABLE. ACTUAL ASSESSMENTS TO BE COLLECTED MAY VARY WHEN TAX STATEMENTS ARE COMPUTED AND SENT TO PARCEL OWNERS.
Click here to perform an appraisal estimate search.
Procedure For Objections To Adjusted Appraisal Of Benefits
Residents in the Chippewa Creek Watershed region who desire to contest the readjusted appraisal of benefits must file an objection with the Clerk of the Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court at New Philadelphia, OH, on or before May 13, 2002. Objections can be sent directly to Rockne W. Clarke, Clerk of the Courts, Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court, 125 E. High Ave., New Philadelphia, OH 44663.
Hearings to consider the objections have been scheduled for May 30, 2002, at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas and for May 30, 2002, at 2 p.m. in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas.
NOTE: OBJECTIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED ON THE READJUSTED APPRAISAL OF BENEFITS ONLY. RESIDENTS WHO QUESTION THE APPRAISED VALUE OF THEIR PROPERTIES NEED TO CONTACT THE COUNTY AUDITOR'S OFFICE IN THEIR COUNTY OF RESIDENCE FOR DETAILS.
More Information Available
For more details about the Chippewa Creek Watershed flood control project and
the Chippewa Subdistrict, contact the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District
toll-free at (877) 363-8500. Questions also can be sent to the MWCD via using the
following form:
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