Carver County Ditch Authority approves redetermination of benefits for County Ditches 6, 9 and 10

The Carver County Ditch Authority voted on Feb. 11 to adopt findings and orders concluding the redetermination of benefits for County Ditches 6, 9 and 10, county staff said.

Ditch Authority legal and engineering work on the multi‑year redetermination process was presented by county staff and the ditch attorney. The hearing on redetermination for several ditches had been held on Feb. 4; the board considered the findings and orders created by the ditch attorney at the Feb. 11 session and approved them.

Mr. Frishman (county staff/ditch counsel) explained the redetermination work and said the board previously received and closed the public hearing on the joint ditch matters. Denise Seminole of Young America Township spoke during the meeting to note that the ditch passes through residential yards and asked the county to consider tree and yard impacts when cleanup occurs: “Mine is not the only residential property along that ditch. We have neighbors who also are on residential acreage. They don't farm. The ditch along, and it goes through their yards as well, and it's yards, not fields,” she said.

Commissioner Fahey moved to approve the findings and orders, Commissioner Anderson seconded, and the authority approved the measures by voice vote. County staff said the next step is to accumulate and present the actual costs for viewers, attorneys and engineers; those costs will be apportioned using the new redeterminations and brought to the ditch authority in a future meeting. The authority can choose to spread larger assessments over multiple years, staff said.

The redetermination action itself does not order immediate cleanouts or expenditures; it establishes the updated benefit allocations that will be used to share costs for any future ditch work or for past redetermination expenses.