Upon receipt of a certification under section 940.25 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners shall, within sixty days, approve or disapprove construction of the improvement. If a board disapproves construction of the improvement, the supervisors may revise the plan for the improvement and again proceed under section 940.25 of the Revised Code. If the board of county commissioners of each county containing any of the territory included in the project area approves construction of the improvement, the board, or if there is more than one such county, the joint board formed under section 940.31 of the Revised Code, has in addition to its other powers, the powers of a soil and water conservation district granted by division (C) of section 940.06 of the Revised Code.

When considering whether to approve or disapprove construction of an improvement, the board shall consider all of the following factors:

(A) The cost of location and construction;

(B) The compensation for land or other property that must be taken;

(C) The benefits to the public welfare;

(D) The benefits to land, public corporations, and the state needing the improvement;

(E) In the case of an improvement involving the drainage of water, the effect on land below the improvement that may be caused by constructing the improvement and the sufficiency or insufficiency of the outlet that receives flow from the improvement;

(F) Any other proper matter that will assist the board in approving or disapproving construction of the improvement.

When, in the opinion of the board of county commissioners, it is necessary for the board to acquire real property or a right-of-way or other easement for a conservation works of improvement under this chapter, the board may appropriate the real property or right-of-way or other easement in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.62 of the Revised Code.

If the board approves construction of the improvement, the county engineer shall file with the county recorder a property plat showing the general location of the improvement and a statement describing the dimensions of any permanent easement that is necessary for maintenance of the improvement. In the case of an improvement that is an open ditch, provisions that govern the permanent easement for maintenance of the ditch that are established in section 6137.12 of the Revised Code shall apply.

A board shall follow sections 307.86 to 307.91 of the Revised Code, except that the board may designate the board of supervisors as the contracting agency and it shall follow division (H) of section 940.06 of the Revised Code, or except that if the improvement is being undertaken through the joint efforts and cooperation of the board of county commissioners or board of supervisors and another state or federal agency, and if the state or federal regulations or procedures are in conflict with those sections with respect to the procedures for the preparing of contracts, the issuing of bids, the making of awards, and generally the administering of the contracts, the board of county commissioners or board of supervisors may adopt the state or federal regulations or procedures in those areas where conflict exists and proceed with the improvement in accordance with the requirements of the state or federal regulations or procedures.

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