Board approves one-year beaver-control retainer for Middle Fork Ditch

The Grant County Drainage Board approved a one-year contract arrangement with Baron Creek LLC to provide beaver-control services for the Middle Fork Ditch. Under the approved estimate, the contractor (represented in the meeting as John) will remain available for the county at a $600 annual retainer and charge $150 for each beaver removed.

The contractor described how he will document work: “They will provide pictures and GPS locations,” he said, offering the GPS-tagged photos as evidence when a beaver is removed. Board members discussed how the county will call contractors for problems on open ditches and clarified that for locations where the anticipated cost is under the county’s informal threshold (discussed as $4,000), staff (Raymond) can directly authorize a chosen contractor to respond without a formal bid.

S2 moved to approve estimate 002 from Baron Creek LLC for a one-year retainer for the Middle Fork Ditch; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. During discussion, members cautioned that monitoring versus being available on call are different services: as the contractor (S7) put it, “For $600 a year, I’ll be available to trap it if you guys have an issue,” adding that continuous monitoring would be a separate arrangement.

Board members also debated fairness and bidding: several said price lists or contractor names should be sent to county staff so the drainage board can advertise or bid work where required. The board asked staff to keep a contractor list and to include a one-year completion timeframe in future small-job contracts and work orders so projects do not remain undone for prolonged periods.