Any owner may file a petition with the clerk of the board of county commissioners of the county in which is located a part of the land that is averred to be benefited by the construction of a proposed improvement. The petition shall state that the construction of the improvement is necessary, will benefit the petitioner, and will be conducive to the public welfare; shall state the nature of the work petitioned for; and may ask to locate, clean, remove obstructions from, construct, reconstruct, straighten, deepen, widen, alter, box, tile, fill, wall, or arch any ditch, drain, watercourse, floodway, creek, run, or river or to change the course, location, or terminus thereof, or may ask to construct a levee, wall, embankment, jetty, dike, dam, sluice, revetment, reservoir, holding basin, control gate, breakwater, or other structure for control of water. The petition shall state the course and termini of the proposed improvement and the branches, spurs, or laterals, if any are petitioned for. Except as ordered under section 6131.31 of the Revised Code, the petition shall state that all costs of engineering, construction, and future maintenance will be assessed to the benefiting parcels of land. The petition shall contain a list of the names and addresses, where known, of all the owners of the land that the petitioner or the county engineer claims will be benefited or damaged by the construction of the proposed improvement. The petition shall be signed by one or more owners as petitioners. If the petitioner is a public corporation or the state, the petition shall be signed by its authorized representative. If the petitioner is the county, the petition shall be filed with the clerk of the court of common pleas, the matters in the petition shall be heard by the common pleas court as if the petition had come to the court on appeal, and the clerk and the court shall do all things that sections 6131.01 to 6131.64 of the Revised Code provide that the county commissioners shall do. The court of common pleas may appoint a board of arbitrators to assume the duties of the judge. The board shall be comprised of three disinterested persons chosen by the judge, who shall designate one of the persons to be chairman. A decision of the board shall require approval of a majority of the members. Either party may appeal the board's decision to the court of common pleas, which shall decide the case on the record of arbitration.

Effective Date: 04-09-1981 .