Kossuth County supervisors approve private tile crossing at County Road P30 (Ninetieth Avenue)

KOSSUTH COUNTY, Iowa — The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 19 approved an application permitting a private drainage tile to be bored under County Road P30 (Ninetieth Avenue) west of Burt.

The board opened a public hearing on the crossing, heard a presentation from the project engineer and county staff, and approved the application by voice vote. County staff said the crossing would be installed as a bored casing under the roadway and that county secondary road funds would be used to pay the county’s share of the work.

The engineer described the design and drainage assumptions to supervisors and staff. The crossing was described as roughly 94 feet long (90 feet from right-of-way to right-of-way), using a 30-inch tile through the road crossing that steps down to 24 inches outside the right-of-way. The engineer said the project drainage area is on the order of several hundred acres and that the design used a 0.75-inch-per-day drainage coefficient; he noted contemporary projects frequently use higher coefficients than older tiles.

The estimated total cost for the crossing presented to the board was approximately $72,250. County staff and the engineer said the county’s policy for private tile crossings requires following a formal application and engineer’s report process and that, under that policy, the county would pay a portion of the crossing cost from available secondary road funds. The engineer also said the county’s established practice is to have construction staking and inspection performed and to receive a construction report when work is complete.

Board members asked about notifications, traffic control and inspection. The engineer said contractors are responsible for traffic control and that the county engineer would require 48 hours’ notice before road work begins. The engineer also said he would provide marked-up construction plans and inspection notes to the road department after work is complete.

Supervisors and staff discussed whether the county had followed this procedure previously; staff said this is the first time a landowner has used the procedure in Kossuth County and that the case could establish a template for future requests. Supervisors asked about the risk of encountering rock or other underground obstructions when boring; the engineer said such events are uncommon but possible and described prior local examples where crews had to change approach.

After discussion the board closed the public hearing and took a single motion to approve the private tile crossing application for County Road P30 (Ninetieth Avenue). The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote; no roll-call tally of individual supervisors’ votes was recorded in the meeting transcript.

The board and staff said no further motions were needed at the time of approval; staff will proceed with required contract and construction steps and will provide the road department with the project location for GIS mapping and with inspection documentation upon completion.