Polk County adopts order to partially abandon County Ditch 70 after engineer finds alignment largely gone

The Polk County Board on June 2 adopted findings and an order to partially abandon County Ditch 70 in section 27, concluding the petitioned segment no longer serves a substantial useful purpose as part of the county drainage system.

The decision followed an evidentiary public hearing in which county engineering staff presented field inspections, aerial photos and an analysis showing the historic alignment has been farmed through and that runoff now drains into adjacent ditches and culverts. County engineer Mr. Sanders told the board the petitioned diagonal and east‑west stretches in section 27 “do not exist” on the landscape and that drainage is handled by nearby County Ditch 117 and County Ditch 103 instead.

Under the legal standard read into the record — citing Minnesota Statute section 103E.806 — the board must find whether the portion proposed for abandonment serves a substantial useful purpose to any remaining property in the system and whether it provides substantial public benefit or utility. Board members asked about an additional half‑mile in section 28 the engineer recommended for abandonment; counsel noted the county could act on additional portions provided notice and statutory criteria are satisfied. No members of the public offered testimony during the hearing.

Commissioner Pape moved to adopt the engineering findings and the draft order; Commissioner Ree seconded. The board voted to adopt the order and recorded the action as carried. The order directs county records staff to revise drainage system records to reflect the abandonment and instructs that no county ditch funds will be used to inspect or maintain the abandoned portion going forward. The board also agreed to pay the proceedings costs from the CD70 system account rather than charging the petitioners directly.

County staff said landowners whose parcels were identified as benefited by CD70 will see records cleaned up to remove the ditch designation where it no longer exists; staff also noted the county can later petition to move benefited acres between ditch systems if needed. The clerk will prepare the formal order for the chair’s signature and file it with drainage records.

Next steps: staff will finalize the written order and update the official drainage records; any adjacent partial‑abandonment or reallocation of benefits that was not noticed will be addressed in a future action if required.