Upon its qualification, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the board of directors of a conservancy district shall prepare a plan for the part or parts of the improvements for which the district was created as the board of directors considers advisable. The plan shall be filed, in accordance with this section, within two years from the date of the order establishing the district. The court may grant extensions of time allowed for the filing of the plan if the board of directors so requests, for good cause shown. No plan or portion of a plan shall be prepared providing a water supply for domestic, industrial, or public use, or providing for the collection and disposal of sewage and other liquid wastes, for any municipal corporation, unless the governing body of the municipal corporation has petitioned the board to provide a water supply or a system for the collection and disposal of sewage and other liquid wastes, or has signed the petition initiating the proceeding by which the district acquired authority to undertake such improvements. The plan shall include the maps, profiles, plans, and other data and descriptions necessary to set forth properly the location and character of the work and of the property benefited or taken or damaged, with estimates of cost for doing the work, including the proportion of the total cost to be assessed within the district, a breakdown of the sources of funds to be used in making the improvements, and the extent of participation, if any, by other political agencies in constructing the work.

If the board finds that any former survey made by any other district or in any other matter is useful for the purposes of the district, the board may take over the data secured by that survey, or such other proceedings as is useful to it, and may pay an amount equal to the value of that data to the other district. No construction shall be made under this chapter that will cause the flooding of any municipal corporation or that will cause water to back up into any municipal corporation, unless the board has acquired and paid for the right to use the land affected for such purpose, and has paid all damages incident to the flooding or back-up. No railroad shall be required to be constructed with a grade in excess of the maximum ruling grade then existing upon that division of the railroad where the change is required.

Upon the completion of the plan, the board shall file a copy of it with the environmental protection agency, which may approve or reject any provisions of the plan relating to the supplying of water for domestic, industrial, and public use or to the collection and disposal of sewage and other liquid wastes. In deciding whether to approve or reject the provisions, the agency shall consider, among other factors, the protection of the public health, and compliance with air and water quality standards and regulations and solid waste disposal requirements. If the agency rejects the provisions or refers them back for amendment, the board shall prepare other or amended provisions relating thereto. If the agency approves the provisions, it shall certify a copy of its action to the board, which shall file it as a record of the district.

Upon the completion of the plan and the approval by the agency, the board shall give notice of the completion of the plan by publication and shall file a copy of the plan in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas of each county in which works of improvement are proposed, or in which property would be benefited, damaged, or taken by the execution of the plan. Copies shall be available for inspection by all persons, public corporations, and agencies of the state government interested. The board shall make copies of the plan available to any interested party, and may charge for the copies only the cost of their production.

The notice shall fix the times and places for the hearing of all objections to the plan, which shall be not less than twenty or more than thirty days after the publication of the notice. The board, or its duly appointed representative under this section, may, upon motion and for good cause shown, or upon the board's or representative's own motion, grant continuances to a day certain of the hearing on the plan. Any continuances shall not necessitate additional notice. All objections to the plan shall be in writing and filed with the secretary of the conservancy district at the secretary's office not more than twenty days after the publication of the notice. A hearing on the objections filed shall be provided for by the board in the county seat of each county in which a copy of the plan has been filed as required by this section, but the hearing may be canceled in any county from which no objections have emanated either from a resident or owner of property located within the county. The board may, if it considers it necessary, appoint one or more representatives, each of whom shall be assigned by the board to conduct one or more of the hearings on the objections as required by this section and make a record of each of the hearings and report the record back to the board. After the hearings, the board shall adopt the plan with or without modifications as the official plan of the district. Within ten days after the adoption of the official plan by the board, the secretary of the conservancy district shall certify a copy of it and deposit it with the clerk of the court, who shall file it in the original case. If any person, public corporation, or agency of the state government objects to the official plan, as adopted, the person, public corporation, or agency of the state government may, within thirty days from the adoption of the official plan, file their objections in writing, specifying the features of the plan to which they object, in the original case in the office of the clerk of the court. The clerk of the court shall fix a day for a hearing on the official plan before the court, which shall not be less than twenty or more than thirty days after the time fixed for filing objections, at which time the court shall hear any objections filed and approve, reject, or refer back the plan to the board.

The court may, upon motion and for good cause shown, or upon its own motion, grant continuances to a date certain of the hearing on the plan when it is made to appear to the court that further time is needed for study of the plan by objectors. Any continuances shall not necessitate additional notice. If the court rejects the plan, the board shall proceed as in the first instance under this section to prepare another plan. If the court refers the plan to the board for amendment, the court shall continue the hearing to a day certain without publication of notice. If the court approves the plan as the official plan of the district, a certified copy of the journal entry of the court shall be filed with the secretary, and the secretary shall incorporate it into the records of the district. The board, with the approval of the court, may alter or add to the official plan until the appraisal record is filed, and the board of appraisers of the conservancy district shall take notice of all of the alterations and additions. If, in the judgment of the court, any alteration or addition is material in character, the procedure on it shall be the same as on the adoption of the plan. After the appraisal record has been filed in court, no alterations of the official plan or additions to it shall be made except as provided in section 6101.39 of the Revised Code.

The board of directors of a conservancy district shall have full power and authority to devise, prepare for, execute, maintain, and operate all works or improvements necessary or desirable to complete, maintain, operate, and protect the official plan. It may secure and use workers and equipment under the supervision of the chief engineer or other agents, or it may enter into contracts for the works, either as a whole or in parts.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000 .