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Birchwood weighs options after Rice Creek says village may be responsible for Halls Marsh outfall
Summary
Rice Creek told Birchwood Village it expects the village to assume maintenance of a cracked outfall pipe conveying runoff into Halls Marsh; council discussed options including revoking permission or forming a watershed tax district, and also heard an update that EPA reviews are delaying a separate lift-station project.
Councilors heard that Rice Creek Watershed representatives told city staff Birchwood could be responsible for maintenance and repair of an outfall pipe that conveys stormwater into Halls Marsh — a claim council members said they had not expected and that Rice Creek had not documented in the meeting record.
Councilor Justin reported that Rice Creek "is now telling us that we need to pay for that and that we own that pipe," prompting discussion of two broad responses: withdraw permission for Rice Creek to use the existing outfall and require the watershed district to relocate its discharge, or pursue a special watershed management tax district under Minnesota Statute 103B.245 to allocate repair and maintenance costs more broadly. Councilors noted Rice Creek’s mixed record on timely repairs: staff had previously escalated other drainage issues to county managers to secure corrective action.
Justin said estimated repair costs for the crushed section are in the range of several thousand dollars (staff referenced an estimate of about $10,000 in the discussion). City attorney Allan advised the council that the legal record and easement documentation must be reviewed before the city takes final action; if Rice Creek’s position is statutory, the council may consider conditional approaches.
Separately, Administrator Becky updated the council on a planned sanitary lift station project (not the same as the Halls Marsh outfall). That project remains delayed while the EPA completes an environmental review and tribal cultural reviews. Becky said the EPA has been slower than expected and staff will continue pushing the review process; once EPA completes the review the city must respond to any follow-up questions, finalize engineering, and then advertise for bids.
Councilors directed staff to seek clarification from Rice Creek on its statement of responsibility, consider a strongly worded response if necessary, and research statutory and administrative tools (including the special tax-district option) as potential next steps.
