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Nicollet County Drainage Authority appoints engineers and viewers, adopts $3.61 million in ditch levies
Summary
In its Drainage Authority meeting the board appointed Houston Engineering as engineer for County Ditch 61, named viewers for redeterminations on multiple ditches, and adopted 2024 annual maintenance levies totaling $3,614,310.28 (including roughly $2.9 million in ditch buffer easement payments); assessments not paid by Dec. 31, 2024 will be added to 2025 property taxes with 5% interest.
The Nicollet County Drainage Authority on Sept. 10 appointed professional teams for multiple ditch matters and adopted 2024 maintenance levies totaling $3,614,310.28.
Property and Public Services staff recommended appointing Houston Engineering as the engineer for an improvement petition on County Ditch 61, saying the petition met statutory requirements and that exhibit maps and a county-attorney review were in the packet. The Drainage Authority moved, seconded and approved Houston Engineering as engineer unanimously.
Staff also proposed appointing viewers and a viewing team led by Mark Behrens for redetermination on several county ditches (listed in packet as county ditches 16A, 80, 805, 92A, 94 and 96). The authority approved findings of fact and orders individually for each ditch, with motions moved and adopted unanimously.
On 2024 annual maintenance levies, staff presented a spreadsheet showing negative ditch balances and explained repayment terms: assessments not paid by Dec. 31, 2024 "would be assessed to the 2025 property taxes at a 5% interest rate." Staff said a large component of the requested levy comes from payouts for ditch buffer easements, totaling about $2,900,000, and summarized the full levy total: "So that's how that ends up to be such a large amount of $3,614,310.28." The authority moved to adopt the levies as set forth in the packet and the motion passed unanimously.
Public comment prior to the engineering and levies discussion included Lynn Flagee, who urged attention to County Ditch 86A and listed several operational problems including a nonworking shutoff gate, unclear pump warranty status, pump screens she described as oversized, a leaking overflow pipe and rocks sliding into the ditch. Flagee asked the board to address the items at the Sept. 17 workshop.
Next steps: staff will finalize appointments, begin redetermination work as ordered, issue levy notices as required, and pursue levy collection procedures for unpaid assessments for 2025 tax roll inclusion.
