Landowner urges board to approve repair and improvement for County Ditch 32

Wes Tennis, a landowner in the County Ditch 32 watershed, spoke to the board in support of a proposed repair and improvement project. Tennis said he attended a preliminary information meeting where the engineer (Jones & Howe) presented evidence that the 100‑year‑old ditch system needs repair and that a viewers' report explained benefits and beneficiaries.

Tennis, who said he has experience as a ditch viewer, urged the board to keep an open mind because petitioners have pursued the project for more than a decade and engineering work shows the repair is viable. "The engineer proved that it needed to be repaired and that it was viable and the improvement should be done," he said.

County staff and board members noted that viewers and engineers are available to answer questions and that affected landowners should contact them for details. The item had been discussed at an earlier preliminary meeting and will return to the board at a future agenda for formal action.

Why it matters: Repairing long‑running drainage infrastructure has budgetary and landowner‑beneficiary implications; viewers' reports determine benefit apportionment and set the path for improvement projects.

Next step: The project will appear on a future agenda with formal action and benefit determinations; staff urged interested landowners to contact the engineer and viewers with questions.