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Blue Earth County approves $491,486 repair plan and financing for County Ditch 51
Summary
The Blue Earth County Board on June 23 approved engineer recommendations to repair County Ditch 51 — including tile replacement and a branch-two realignment — and adopted a resolution to allow financing. The board closed the hearing after no public comment and directed the engineer to prepare bidding plans.
Blue Earth County commissioners on June 23 approved findings and an engineer’s repair report for County Ditch 51, ordering plans and specifications for public bidding and adopting a resolution to allow financing for the project.
Ryan Henneker of Blue Earth County Drainage Management opened the final hearing, noting the system’s watershed covers approximately 484 benefited acres in Ceresco Township and that a petition for repair was filed May 8, 2025. He told the board the Drainage Authority appointed ISG to prepare an engineer’s report and recommended approval of draft findings and an order to proceed with design and bidding.
Josh James, a graduate engineer with ISG who presented the engineer’s report, said the system — originally constructed about 1918 — showed televising evidence of tile cracking, collapse and sediment build-up and that parts of the system no longer meet current standards. Citing Minnesota statutes on ditch repairs, James said the plan calls for replacing subsurface tile (using the next larger standard size when an original size is not readily available) and a realignment of branch two where the original tile is now beneath a widened and paved County Road 32.
“The system is in a state of disrepair,” James said, summarizing the televising photos and engineer findings. He presented a drainage-capacity analysis showing an existing drainage coefficient around 0.27 (industry practice often targets about 0.5), while noting the calculated capacities do not capture localized blockages.
ISG identified a total project cost of $491,486. James said coordination to reuse existing road crossings under County Road 10 and County Road 32 reduced project costs by about $75,000 ($40,000 savings at County Road 10 and $35,000 at County Road 32). He also said easements for the branch-two realignment have been obtained and will be recorded at the drainage-system expense after final approval.
The board opened the public-comment period and received none. With no board questions, a commissioner moved to approve the draft findings and order accepting the engineer’s report and directing the appointed engineer to prepare plans and specifications for public bidding; the motion carried by voice vote. Commissioners then approved a related resolution to finance the repair project, again by voice vote.
The county will abandon the existing tile alignment once new tile is installed and, James said, responsibility for the older, abandoned tile will fall to the adjacent landowners. The appointed engineer will prepare the final plans and specifications needed for public bidding; staff said easements will be recorded after final Drainage Authority approval.
What happens next: the engineer will complete bidding documents and the county will proceed with the public-bid process for the repair project. The board’s actions at the June 23 hearing authorize those next steps.
