Kossuth County trustees move forward with repair plan for DD4 Lateral 11 after public hearing

Kossuth County supervisors directed county engineers and consultants on Tuesday to continue coordinating a repair of failing tile in Drainage District 4, Lateral 11, following a presentation and a public hearing on a Ducks Unlimited‑backed plan to replace older 18‑ and 24‑inch pipes with a single 36‑inch line.

The plan presented by Tyler Kindly, a professional engineer assigned to the review, calls for a more direct alignment through federal ground that Ducks Unlimited and Union Slough representatives offered to help fund. Tyler told supervisors the two existing lines have collapsed or are heavily silted in places, and that the proposed 36‑inch segment would roughly double the immediate channel capacity in that reach from about 8 cubic feet per second to just over 16 cfs; however, he cautioned any realized capacity gain would require downstream improvements because the new segment ties into an older junction box and outlet.

The repair plan includes material costs that the grant would cover for much of the replacement; the county's share of installation work in the preliminary estimate was shown at about $142,688 for the district portion of the work. Tyler also flagged a buried utility found during televising of the lateral that will require identification and relocation before work proceeds, and he recommended refining the design so the new main line connects past the old junction box to avoid tying new pipe to century‑old, deteriorated structure.

Why this matters: the lateral serves farmland north of Bancroft and project proponents and staff say parts of the tile are failing now, reducing drainage capacity and creating ongoing maintenance and water‑management problems for benefitting landowners. Ducks Unlimited's involvement brought grant funding that covers a large portion of the materials, and supervisors said they wanted to preserve that opportunity while ensuring the county is not left with gaps in long‑term capacity.

Public testimony and objections: two written objections were filed by registered agent Joe Goshi on behalf of Global Assets LLC and Global Enterprises LLC (both noted in the record). Global Enterprises said it owns a 19‑acre parcel that would be assessed about $7,134.40 under the preliminary schedule and objected to assessment of land that is listed on an open‑ditch schedule but not on the tile fund schedule. Goshi asked that only lands actually benefitting from the lateral repair be assessed. Supervisors who heard the objections said assessment schedules will be finalized consistent with the district rules and that federal land (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service property) on the benefit schedule can complicate collections; Tyler confirmed federal acreage historically does not pay assessments and that assessments must be set with that in mind.

Board action: after closing the hearing supervisors voted unanimously to direct county engineering staff and consultant Bolton & Menk to continue coordinating with Union Slough, Ducks Unlimited and other affected parties to finalize plans, address the utility relocation and submit final specifications and costings for letting.

Next steps and implementation risks: staff will request final plans from the Union Slough/Ducks Unlimited team and Bolton & Menk, resolve the utility conflict identified in televising, and return to the board before contract letting. Tyler estimated additional design/coordination work could be completed for a modest fee (he referenced a rough $10,000–$12,000 range for preliminary surveying and sizing if the board sought to extend the replacement downstream). Supervisors noted the repair is time‑sensitive because of grant windows and urged prompt follow‑up.

Votes at the meeting: the motion to authorize Bolton & Menk and union Slough/Ducks Unlimited coordination was introduced by Supervisor Kyle Stecker and seconded from the floor; roll call recorded unanimous approval by the board.