10/5/18 – 5:15 A.M.

The Hancock County Commissioners have agreed to pay the assessment for Blanchard River maintenance instead of assessing residents. They voted to rescind a resolution that would have charged property owners $1 each. The commissioners then voted to pay for the assessments out of the county’s flood mitigation funds.

Other counties in the Blanchard River watershed have agreed to similar actions.

The six-county assessment should raise $55,000 a year, including more than $33,000 from Hancock County.

The next maintenance project will include the removal of logjams, downed trees, and woody debris. It will also cut out leaning trees and trees that are “obstructing the normal flow of water.”

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