HANCOCK COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - Though the weather hasn't quite cooperated, Hancock County has taken its first big step in implementing their flood control plan.
This week, workers completed the first round of prep work for the first stage of the Blanchard River flood mitigation plan.
The approved portion of the mitigation is to build concrete benches along the riverbank to widen and improve the flow of flood waters.
But first, crews had to remove dozens of trees where the benches will be built. As part of the plan, the EPA has set a date of mid April for these trees to be removed since they are potential nesting sites for the Indiana brown bat.
Though the construction won't take place for months, the trees have to go now, or they would have had to remain until the fall.
The Maumee Watershed conservancy district said that their permit application is still pending to begin building these benches along the Blanchard River and that they could begin that work later this Summer.
