May 31—PERU — The Miami County Commissioners are again suing a couple they say used mounds of dirt to knowingly block water from draining naturally, causing flooding, damage to a county road and creating a “dangerous condition” for the community.

The civil lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Miami Superior Court 1, claims Doug and Melody Phillips, around October 2023, placed dirt on the southern part of their property north of 1400 South which raised the ground elevation.

The increase in elevation, according to the lawsuit, obstructed a “natural watercourse” and prevented water from draining away from the road during and after a rainfall. Because of obstruction, flooding regularly occurred on the portion of 1400 South near the Phillips’ property.

The flooding led to a stretch of the road being temporarily closed and created a couple of footlong potholes. The affected stretch of road has since been repaved by the Miami County Highway Department and floodwater has receded.

The flooding also damaged the grass of Al Satterfield, owner of INTINTZ Window Tinting and Solar Control who lives across the street from the Phillips, and caused some drivers to drive on Satterfield’s lawn to avoid the high water on the road, according to social media posts made by Satterfield.

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Satterfield declined to comment when reached by the Tribune.

In March, a vehicle crashed and rolled after hitting standing water in front of the Phillips’ property. The driver was hospitalized, according to police.

The Phillips’ home, which is located on the Miami side of the Miami-Howard County line, sits in front of a culvert maintained by Miami County. On the south side of the road in Howard County, a drainage tile installed in the 1980s by a farmer who owns land south of the road ends less than a foot from the culvert and carries water across the road during rainfall.

The commissioners’ lawsuit seeks a judge to rule the actions by the Phillips as a “public nuisance; order the Phillips to immediately remove the dirt or allow the county to do so; issue a permanent injunction against the Phillips preventing them from further changing the elevation of their property or blocking water from draining again; order the Phillips to cover costs to fix the damage caused to 1400 South; and order the Phillips to pay court and attorney costs.”

Dan May, the attorney hired by the Phillips, though, disagrees that the water draining onto the Phillips’ property is a natural watercourse. May and the Phillips believe the water is ultimately coming from installed drainage tile, that the issue is a Miami County and Howard County problem and that Phillips has every right to handle water coming onto his property as he deems fit.

Phillips and May formally responded to the lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss Tuesday, arguing that Phillips’ actions are allowed by what’s known as Indiana’s “common enemy doctrine,” which says property owners have the right to deal with standing water that does not flow in a “defined channel” how they see fit.

May also argues the county’s lawsuit is in “bad faith,” amounts to “governmental harassment” and a violation of the Phillips’ rights under the Indiana Constitution.

In an interview with the Tribune, May said the issue could be rectified if either Howard County or Miami County would install something to divert the water away from the Phillips’ road and into a regulated drain.

“The real issue is how do you get Howard County and Miami County to say ‘Hey, we just need to install a storm sewer,'” May said. “That’s all they need to do. They need to install a ditch. … They don’t want to do that, though. They don’t want to spend money. They just want to sue my guy and say ‘You’re causing the problem.’ No, he’s not causing the problem. Howard County property owners are causing the problem.”

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

The Miami County Commissioners’ lawsuit is the latest iteration in a decades-long feud between Phillips, his neighbors and Miami County.

The most recent lawsuit is virtually identical to a lawsuit Miami County filed in 1998 against Doug Phillips after Phillips did the same thing it’s accusing him of doing now — built a dam on the southern portion of his property that blocked the flow of water.

Then, Phillips told the Tribune the water carried from the drainage tile caused part of his property to become a “raging creek” and a “swamp” that made it impossible for him to mow the front of the property. That led to tall grass, standing water and the concern for mosquitos and other animals, Phillips said at the time.

In 1998, just like last October, Phillips built a dam and filled up a ravine on his property with more than 200 tons of dirt and landfill material, as well as a small tile, to stop the water from flowing on his property.

That caused standing water one to two feet deep to pool on the road, causing, on June 14, 1998, an automobile accident, according to Tribune archives.

The county sued, arguing, like they are now, that Phillips was blocking a natural surface watercourse.

Then-Miami County Surveyor Greg Deeds told the Tribune that Phillips could install his own tile system to divert the water around his property.

At the time, Phillips refused to do so because of the cost of installing and maintaining it.

Phillips reiterated his opposition to that to the Tribune on Thursday, saying the several trees that surround his property would make dealing with tree root infiltration both time consuming and costly. He added that rerouting the water around his property would only be diverting the problem downstream and could potentially flood the property of residents north of his house.

In 1998, Miami County Circuit Judge Bruce Embrey ruled in Phillips’ favor that the water going onto his property was not a natural watercourse, but did eventually approve a permanent injunction ordering Phillips could not obstruct the flow of water, according to Tribune archives and past court dockets.

The new lawsuit is currently in litigation. Miami County Judge David Grund recused himself from the case. It’s now being overseen by Howard County Magistrate Cheyenne Shepherd.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.