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Supervisors direct county attorney to send letter after culvert obstruction; set Jan. 20 hearing for DD6 repairs
Summary
County staff reported an apparently deliberate obstruction in a culvert near East Lake Okoboji that can back into Drainage District 48; supervisors directed the county attorney to send a warning letter to nearby property owners and set a Jan. 20 public hearing for a $52,000 Drainage District 6 repair plan.
County staff described post‑flood inspections and evidence that a culvert west of the old railroad bed near East Lake Okoboji had been obstructed with material that appeared to have been placed deliberately. Collin (county staff) said the obstruction can cause water to pond and then "jump over a hill into DD 48," contributing to flooding in the city of Spirit Lake and nearby low‑lying areas.
"We found that this was obstructed. That's not legal, and it caused all this — it possibly caused all this damage or contributed to it at a minimum in DD 48," Collin said, describing aerial evidence and recurring re‑deposition of material after county crews cleared the culvert.
Board members discussed response options including targeted letters to nearby landowners, a public notice or county‑website posting, regular monitoring, and installing trail cameras to identify deliberate obstruction. Several supervisors favored starting with a letter on county/board letterhead to put property owners on notice. The board voted to have the county attorney send the letter Colin drafted to property owners the board determines may be involved; the motion passed on roll‑call 'aye' votes.
Separately, county staff presented an engineers report for Drainage District 6 recommending a half‑mile ditch cleanout, a new tile outlet, riprap stabilization, and fill for an eroded headwall area, with an estimated cost of $52,000. Because the estimate exceeds $50,000, the board accepted the engineer's report and set a public hearing for Jan. 20 at 9 a.m. to consider the repair plan.
