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Alpine Lodge owner asks Red River to press state to clear silted easement into Red River
Summary
Richard Swicker, owner of the Alpine Lodge, told the council the lodge’s drainage easement is clogged with silt and debris and asked the town to contact the state highway department to coordinate cleanup and future work. He proposed boundary adjustments but said title and legal review are needed.
Richard Swicker, identified by the council as the presenter, told the Red River Town Council that an easement on the east side of his property at the Alpine Lodge has filled with roughly 18 inches of silt and river rock, blocking flow toward the Red River and increasing local flood risk. “When we bought the Alpine in ’17 ... that whole ditch ... was overgrown,” Swicker said, adding that his group later cleared it but that uncoordinated excavation by a city or state worker left piles of rock and soil that now make maintenance difficult.
Swicker said he consulted an attorney who advised that the easement’s maintenance responsibility lies with the state highway department, not the town, and asked the council to contact the state on his behalf. “The city has to contact the state highway department to tell them about it to have it get done,” Swicker said, asking that the town notify him before any heavy equipment is sent to the site so he can coordinate and avoid surprise disturbance.
He told councilors the ditch is part of a broader watershed and floodplain that connects to the Red River via Mallette (Millett) Canyon, and warned that if the channel cannot flow properly “even a minor rainstorm” could cause localized flooding for his property and upstream neighbors. Swicker described a possible remedy to straighten and reestablish boundary lines shown on a recent survey and suggested a property-line trade or purchase could simplify maintenance, but he stressed that lawyers and title companies would be needed to complete any transfer.
Council members acknowledged the concerns and asked staff to research ownership and recorded easements. The mayor told Swicker the council has an established land-exchange process and urged staff to complete title and survey checks. “Let us do our research,” the mayor said; staff then committed to bring findings back to a future meeting and, if appropriate, put the item on a subsequent agenda for formal action.
Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff will review the survey and title documents, confirm whether the state highway department or the town has maintenance responsibility, and report back to council for potential next-month action. Swicker requested that the town arrange state contact and keep him informed about any scheduled work at the site.
