Worth County supervisors vote to proceed with open-ditch plan for Drainage District No. 18

The Board of Supervisors of Worth County, acting for Drainage District No. 18, voted June 29 to proceed with an open-ditch repair plan after hearing an updated engineering proposal and cost estimates.

Jon Rosengren, an engineer with Bolton & Menk, told the board that his firm re-evaluated four previously presented options and found "there will be no permitting required for any of the options that the landowners choose." He described a modified design that would stop short of Cardinal Avenue to reduce severance issues and recommended upsizing the main drainage conduit to a 1/2" DC while leaving most laterals as-is.

Rosengren said stopping the ditch short could still trigger wetland mitigation under NRCS rules and would not guarantee eliminating severance claims. He recounted earlier 2024 estimates that right-of-way and severance to take the ditch to pothole three were about $810,000; shortening the alignment to Cardinal Avenue, he said, would lower estimated right-of-way and severance exposure for the Beverly Land Company to roughly $560,000, with that sum deducted "off the top." Rosengren also told the board that DD No. 18 predates existing gas pipelines and that pipeline owners "will have to move those at their expense." He said responsibility for boring tile through the railroad has changed recently and that the railroad would now bear that crossing cost.

Landowners raised local impacts. One landowner said heavy rains leave his 40-acre field wet for up to a week. Jason Woods, representing Beverly Land Company, told the board the company prefers installing a 36-inch tile over creating an open ditch. Rosengren said larger culverts at Cardinal and 410th would help move surface water more quickly and said the engineering team hopes to finalize plans by the end of summer and seek bids in the fall, though that schedule "might be pushing it."

Following public comment, the board closed the hearing and voted to proceed with the open-ditch option. The motions recorded in the meeting minutes show Mark Smeby moved to proceed with the open ditch, seconded by A.J. Stone; roll-call votes recorded Smeby, Stone and Chair Enos Loberg as voting yea. The board then adjourned.

The board did not adopt construction contracts at the June 29 meeting; supervisors and the engineer indicated next steps include finalizing modified plans, resolving right-of-way/severance calculations, confirming mitigation obligations with NRCS if wetlands are affected, and soliciting bids if the timeline holds.

Meeting minutes show attendees included supervisors Enos Loberg (chair), A.J. Stone (vice-chair), Mark Smeby (supervisor), Bolton & Menk engineer Jon Rosengren, Drainage Clerk Chelsey Doty, Auditor Jacki Backhaus, and multiple landowners and representatives, including Jason Woods for Beverly Land Company. No precise construction budget or bid schedule was adopted at the session.