After a 20-minute public hearing Tuesday, the Sherburne County Board voted to move ahead with a complete cleanout of Ditch 15 in Haven Twp.

 

Earlier this year, property owner Rodney Kozak requested a cleanout of a portion of the ditch to alleviate flooding on his property.

 

Ditch Inspector Mike Lindenau said there were concerns from other property owners who would also have to pay a share for cleaning the ditch.

 

“Prior to carrying out the request and hiring a contractor to perform the work, I received feedback from several benefitting landowners,” he said.  “A few landowners are definitely not in favor of maintenance on the ditch. One would like the ditch cleaned and maintained in its entirety.”

 

After thorough research on other portions of the ditch, he came to the conclusion the entire ditch is due for maintenance.

 

Lindenau said according to ditch law, there is no public hearing required if the cost is under $50,000. His estimate for the cleanout was about $25,000. There are 26 benefitting properties on the ditch.

 

“With the difference of opinions of the landowners benefitting from the ditch, I felt it would be best to have a public hearing so all the benefitting landowners would have the opportunity to voice their opinion and concerns,” he said. “We thought it would be best to extend the courtesy and exercise the public hearing because there are not that many benefitting properties to distribute the cost of maintenance.”

 

During the hearing, Terry Polsfuss of Clear Lake said he was concerned about how a cleanout would affect the Elk River and lakes in the area. He said it would cause more silt to end up in the waterways.

Tim Sakry said he was in favor of cleaning the entire ditch because just doing spots wouldn’t solve all the flooding issues.

 

“Over the 30 years I’ve been on the land, it’s getting wetter and wetter. The water keeps backing up,” he said. “It’s really unfair that we’re paying taxes on the land.”

 

Rodney Kozak said his orignal request was to clean a part of the northern end, but he was okay with doing the entire ditch. 

 

Property owner Emery Lapointe agreed.

 

“If you’re going to clean some of it, you’re going to need to do the whole thing so it works properly,” he said. “If you do some of it, you’ll have a pocket and flood another area.”

 

After public testimony was done, Lindenau said in his opinion the entire ditch should be cleaned because there are ongoing issues. And nothing has been done except cleaning the silt ponds in 2007 and removing a few beaver dams.

 

“In the long run it will make more sense to clean the ditch in its entirety all at once to get the cheapest price per lineal foot and have one mobilization cost,” he said. “The bigger the contract, the better the prices.”

 

Auditor/Treasurer Diane Arnold said for those who have a high bill because of the cleanout, payment can be done over time - three years for assessments over $100 up to $1,000 and five years over $1,000.

 

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing said it made sense to do an entire cleanout instead of just some areas.

 

“If we do anything less than a full cleanout, all we’re doing is backing water from one neighbor to the other and back and forth,” he said.

 

Lindenau said the work won’t be done immediately because of soft ground. He said it’s better to work in the winter.

 

“The ground needs to frozen somewhat to support the equipment,” he said, “and the water flows are at a minimum.”