Upon approval by the supervisors of a soil and water conservation district of a petition for a proposed improvement, the supervisors or their designee shall conduct all necessary surveys for the proposed improvement. In addition, the supervisors or their designee shall prepare plans for constructing the improvement and shall prepare maps showing the location of the land that is proposed to be assessed in accordance with section 940.33 of the Revised Code for the improvement.

The supervisors or their designee shall prepare specifications for construction of the improvement and shall specify dimensions of any temporary easement that is necessary for construction purposes. In addition, the supervisors or their designee shall make estimates of the cost of material and any excavation costs. The construction of the improvement may be divided into construction areas if that would be expedient.

In the case of an improvement that is a ditch or similar structure for the disposal of water, the specifications for its construction that the supervisors or their designee must prepare shall provide for spreading and leveling of spoil banks and shall provide for erosion and sediment control through the establishment of a sod or seeded strip not fewer than four feet nor more than fifteen feet wide, measured at right angles to the top of the ditch bank on both sides of the ditch, except where suitable vegetative cover exists. The strip or other such controls shall be considered to be part of the permanent improvement. Sod or seeded strips that are established and maintained in excess of four feet shall be compensated for by their removal from the taxable valuation of the property of which they are a part.

The supervisors or their designee shall make note of all fences, floodgates, culverts, bridges, and other structures that will be removed or adjusted in constructing the improvement. The supervisors or their designee also shall make note of any gates that need to be installed in existing fences in order to provide access to the improvement for maintenance purposes. The gates shall be locked when requested by the owner of the fence and shall be considered to be a part of the original improvement and subject to maintenance along with the improvement.

The supervisors shall submit the plans, specifications, and other information prepared in accordance with this section to the board of county commissioners of each county in which the proposed improvement is to be located.

Added by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 1/1/2016.