Wright County tabled Youngblood Avenue vacation after landowners ask for drainage mapping

The Wright County Board of Supervisors opened a public hearing on a proposed vacation of Youngblood Avenue and, after extensive public comment from affected landowners about historic private drainage tile, voted to table Resolution 2025-14 to allow staff time to map culverts, intakes and investigate access questions.

Owner Bob Ritter said he supports the vacation but asked the county to provide “a mapping or a listing and a mapping of inlets, outlets, you know, any other type of information that applies to this right of way” so he and other affected landowners know what infrastructure exists before the road is vacated. Ritter said historical records are sparse and that private tile installed decades ago may not be reflected in county files.

Wright County Engineer Adam Clements and staff told landowners they have located several intakes on the south end and that a work order exists to repair at least one intake. Clements said the county maintains records only for work done under current right-of-way permit procedures, and that earlier private tile records often do not exist. “We do have a work order that's on the south end to fix an intake,” Clements said during the hearing.

Several other landowners and a tenant raised related concerns: whether vacating the road would change maintenance responsibilities for culverts and whether access to adjacent fields would be preserved. Don Goldman, a tenant on nearby property, asked whether the county would provide an alternative access to the north if the current access path is lost when the road is vacated; supervisors said such access decisions would require engineering input and could be addressed before a final decision.

Board members and staff described options discussed with landowners, including (1) recording a private mutual drain (an agreement among landowners to share repair costs); (2) creating a subdistrict within the drainage district so repairs would be handled through a district classification and cost allocation; or (3) having landowners pursue a mutual agreement recorded at the county recorder’s office. Staff warned that formal district classification would likely require an engineer to inspect and possibly expose tile and that could increase costs.

After asking staff to walk the ditch, locate culverts and compile lat/long and size for known intakes and culverts, the board voted to table Resolution 2025-14 until its next meeting to allow staff time to gather that information and to consult the county engineer about possible access solutions. The board closed the public hearing before tabling the resolution.

The board’s action leaves the vacation unresolved and requests county staff to provide a drainage/infrastructure inventory to affected landowners prior to a final vote.