Wright County drainage trustees approve intercounty MOUs, set Sept. 8 public hearing for DD 62 repairs

Wright County drainage trustees on July 21 approved updated memoranda of understanding with neighboring counties, reviewed drone footage of damaged ditches and tile outlets in Drainage District 62, and set a public hearing for Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. to consider repairs.

The trustees — Chairman Nick Rasmussen, Dean Clouse (via phone), Ben Leaf, Ashley Bosch and Betty Ellis — met as the Drainage District trustees. Administrator Courtney Morris Strange presented updates and documentation, including stills from drone footage compiled by Morris and engineer Lee Gallantyne of CGA.

Why it matters: The trustees said damage to open ditches and tile outlets could require construction work that would affect landowners and may require assessments. The trustees also approved routine work orders and small invoices related to drainage operations.

Lee Gallantyne, an engineer with CGA, reviewed the drone stills and offered a preliminary construction-cost estimate for the sites shown. "The construction cost to correct all the issues would be $80,000 to $100,000," Gallantyne said. He also said the district in question, Drainage District 62, is approximately 3.12 miles long and was last cleaned out at the end of 2014.

Trustee Betty Ellis said she did not think an engineer was immediately necessary given the documentation presented and asked that the matter be placed on the trustees' July 21 agenda to set a date and time for a public hearing as required under Iowa public-notice rules. The trustees then set the hearing for Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. to comply with the 40/20 timing rule described in the meeting (40 days before the hearing with notices mailed 20 days prior).

The trustees reviewed and approved multiple drainage work orders submitted by landowners and county staff for specific washouts, broken tiles and beaver-dam removal across several townships (examples included DD 219, Section 28 of Norway Township; DD 10, Section 35 of Norway Township; DD 36 Sub 1, Section 3 of Dayton Township; and DD 36 Lateral A, Section 3 of Dayton Township). Some landowners asked that certain repairs wait until after harvest.

The trustees also approved payment of a corrected contractor invoice for Drainage District 149 in Section 24, Bullstock Township, in the amount of $771; the administrator said the contractor corrected a prior miscalculation. The board approved a separate postage invoice from Webster County for $11.38 to mail public hearing notices.

Several joint conference calls were held earlier in the meeting with trustees from Humboldt County, Franklin County and Hancock County to consider updated intercounty memoranda of understanding clarifying how joint drainage assessments will be handled. The minutes record motions approving the updated MOUs on those calls; the documents were presented by county staff during the conference calls.

The trustees recessed and later returned to continue the DD 62 discussion; no formal appointment of CGA as engineer was made at the meeting. The trustees agreed to notify engineer Lee Gallantyne about the scheduled Sept. 8 hearing so he could attend or present.

The meeting record contains multiple transcribed name variants and minor corrections requested by trustees; the administrator said she would correct the minutes before final signatures.

Next steps: The trustees set the formal public hearing on repairs to Drainage District 62 for Sept. 8 at 10 a.m.; staff will publish and mail notices in accordance with the 40/20 schedule described during the meeting.