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Wright County trustees deny reclassification petition for DD 194 Lateral 1B after attorney opinion
Summary
After hearing from the drainage attorney and affected landowners, Wright County drainage trustees voted to deny a petition to reclassify Drainage District 194 Lateral 1B; trustees cited lack of a legal basis to overturn the 2021 reclassification.
Wright County drainage trustees voted to deny a petition to reclassify Drainage District (DD) 194 Lateral 1B following review of a written opinion from the county’s drainage attorney and testimony from a landowner who objected to the 2021 reclassification.
The drainage attorney’s written opinion, read into the record, said the 2021 reclassification proceeded with an engineer’s report and the requisite public hearings and notices. The attorney concluded that the petitioner's arguments—principally that he does not benefit from portions of Lateral 1B upstream of his land—did not present a legal basis to reopen or overturn the prior proceedings and that it was too late to challenge the classification without evidence of procedural error.
Landowner testimony explained that his land drains to a different lateral (Lateral 1C) and he asserted he received no benefit from portions of Lateral 1B that the 2021 reclassification assigned to his property. County staff reviewed the 2021 benefit percentages: one parcel had 47.4% benefit for Lateral 1B, another 6.9%, and a small tract 0.2%; the board noted engineers consider factors such as proximity, soil type and slope when assigning percent benefit.
After discussion referencing the attorney’s opinion, a supervisor moved to deny the reclassification petition; the motion passed unanimously. Trustees told the petitioner the drainage attorney’s contact information could be provided for further questions, but the board indicated it would follow the attorney’s legal opinion.
