Murray County board authorizes mediation with MnDOT in County Ditch 11 dispute
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The Murray County Board authorized Board Chair Dennis Welgraven and Auditor/Treasurer Heidi Winter to represent the county in mediation with the Minnesota Department of Transportation over repair costs and litigation tied to County Ditch No. 11 and a tile void beneath State Highway 30.
Board Chair Dennis Welgraven and county officials were authorized April 15 to represent Murray County in mediation with the Minnesota Department of Transportation over long-running disputes about County Ditch No. 11 and a large tile void found beneath State Highway 30.
The action followed a closed-session briefing under M.S. §13D.05, subd. 3(b) during which county staff presented a chronology and cost summary for the drainage issue. County records in the packet show Drainage Authority costs totaling $83,119.22 (including $82,375.22 paid to date, with $744.00 outstanding) and MnDOT costs totaling $83,897.67 for road repair, emergency detour work and plugging the existing tile line. The board previously retained counsel (Rinke Noonan), filed a civil complaint against MnDOT on June 6, 2023, and has pursued discovery and pretrial scheduling; a pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 6, 2025 and trial for Oct. 16–17, 2025.
Commissioner Jackie Meier moved to go into the closed session and later moved the motion to authorize mediation representation; both motions carried. The board’s packet records a historical timeline of actions dating to the ditch’s petition in 1904 and multiple Drainage Authority meetings and communications with MnDOT since 2017, including a 2017 emergency meeting and subsequent cost discussions and litigation steps.
The Drainage Authority’s stated position, as summarized for the board, is that the authority should bear typical farm drainage repair costs (estimated in its materials at $10,000–$15,000) if the road had not been constructed over the tile; that position is a point of contention in the ongoing litigation. The county materials note prior steps including a legislative claim, civil complaint, discovery requests and attorney planning meetings. At the April 15 meeting the board voted to authorize Welgraven and Auditor/Treasurer Heidi Winter to represent Murray County in mediation with MnDOT.
The action does not resolve who will bear ultimate repair costs; the board packet and motions reflect that legal proceedings and scheduled court events remain pending. Next procedural steps identified in county materials are mediation with MnDOT and the pretrial/trial dates noted above.