Webster County trustees accept amended engineer's report but table decision on $1.4M Lateral A-1 replacement

Chair/Trustee called the continuation hearing for Drainage District Number 34, Lateral A to order and turned the meeting to Luke Huggins, an engineer with McClure Engineering, for an updated engineer's report.

Huggins told trustees the red and blue main lines that feed the district measure about 0.41 to 0.43 inches per acre per day of drainage capacity, short of a commonly cited design guidance of a half-inch per acre per day. He said the petition under consideration covers the orange Lateral A-1 only and described two broad approaches: replace the existing tile with a single larger pipe, or add a relief tile alongside the old line. Huggins said he favors full replacement to avoid ongoing maintenance of an aging pipe.

The amended report narrowed an additional option requested at the prior meeting and updated unit-cost estimates after surveying bids statewide. Huggins put the replacement-only option labeled E1 at about $1,400,000 (assessed only to landowners inside the blue-dashed watershed), up from a $590,000 estimate in the prior report a decade earlier. "We decided to go more broadly at bids across the state and put those costs in," he said. He cautioned estimates could change when bids are solicited.

Landowners offered mixed reactions during oral comment. Jay McClelland read a memo on behalf of the Sandell Family Farm expressing support; other written supporters reported by the chair included Kaye Bessler and the Fried Family Trust (Marion Page). Farmer AJ Blair urged consideration of plastic pipe (Prinsco), saying it is "substantially cheaper" and, if properly bedded, durable. Opposing the upgrade, Todd Anderson said his land held up during heavy rains and he did not see failures warranting the expense.

Huggins answered technical questions about who would pay if the board pursues various options, explaining that a reclassification would determine assessment schedules and that work confined to the orange Lateral A-1 would be assessed only to the smaller blue watershed. He acknowledged some landowners want broader capacity increases on lower mains but noted the outlet capacity at the ditch constrains overall system performance.

After public comment the board closed the hearing at 11:40 a.m., moved to accept and place on file the amended engineer's report, and approved that motion by voice vote. Later in the meeting a supervisor moved to table selecting a repair/improvement option and to revisit the matter after the board's regular meeting on Jan. 13; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The chair then adjourned the session.

Next steps: the board has the amended report on file and will return to decide whether to pursue one of the replacement options (C1/C2/E1/E2) or another schedule after staff and landowners have time to review updated cost and remonstrance calculations. The exact assessment schedule and per-parcel costs were not finalized at the hearing.