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McLeod County approves findings to repair County Ditch 12A; directs engineer to prepare plans
Summary
After a continued public hearing, the McLeod County Board of Commissioners approved findings and an order directing repairs to County Ditch 12A, authorized an alternative bid package for a railroad crossing bore and directed staff to prepare final plans, while leaving some public-road crossing cost decisions to townships.
The McLeod County Board of Commissioners on May 6, 2025 approved findings and an order directing repair of County Ditch 12A according to the engineer's recommended priorities 1 through 4 and directed staff and the county engineer to prepare final plans, specifications and bidding documents for that work.
The action follows a continued public hearing that considered a repair report prepared by Houston Engineering Inc. The board accepted the engineer's recommendation that the work range from minimal excavation of accumulated sediment to culvert and crossing repair and bank and outlet stabilization. The board also authorized replacement or consolidation of private crossings to be paid from drainage-system funds and instructed staff to follow Minnesota statute procedures when allocating costs for public-road crossings.
The engineer presented four prioritized scopes of work with cost ranges, and an alternative — boring a 24-inch culvert under an existing box culvert on the Twin Cities and Western Railroad (TCWR) — that some landowners wanted but the engineer described as not essential and potentially cost prohibitive. The board directed preparation of an alternative bid package for the TCWR bore and said it will consider those bids before deciding whether to place the culvert.
Public commenters and township supervisors raised concerns about how original ditch elevations were determined, noting that some road crossings and culverts had been replaced in recent years (one crossing cited was replaced about five years ago). Mike Keenan, a Glencoe Township supervisor, said he had “a hard time understanding... how the depth of the original ditch would have been” determined and questioned replacing relatively new culverts. Bruce Bargmann, another Glencoe Township supervisor, asked who would determine the remaining life of a culvert when prorating cost shares.
The board's order cites and follows the statutory hearing process for public drainage systems under Minnesota Statutes (including references in the proceeding to sections cited as 103E.715, 103E.7115, 103E.525 and 103E.701 in the hearing record). The order explicitly allows townships the option to replace public-road crossings either contemporaneously with the repair contract — with a cost-share based on remaining service life and condition — or to defer replacement, in which case the township would bear the full cost when replacement is eventually required.
The board also authorized replacement and consolidation of private crossings as recommended by the engineer, reserved subsequent actions such as award of contracts and assessment certification for future board decisions, and directed staff to continue pursuing outside funding to apply to the work through any final certification of assessments.
Earlier in the meeting the board approved a related professional-services payment: Houston Engineering Inc. submitted an additional-services request of $14,200 for coordination on the County Ditch 12A repair report, including work with TCWR and legal counsel; the board approved that payment.
Next steps outlined by the board include finalizing plans and bidding documents for the prioritized repair work, receiving bids on the alternative railroad-casing option, and later actions by the drainage authority on contract awards and assessment certification once cost estimates are finalized.
