County Drainage (Ditch) System No. 44 Redetermination of Benefits - PDF document

Otter Tail County Drainage Authority County Drainage (Ditch) System No. 44 Redetermination of Benefits Public Hearing Minutes Ottertail Operations Center – 469 Main St. W., Ottertail , MN Monday, October 5 , 2015 The Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners convened as the Otter Tail County Drainage Authority a t 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2015 at the Ottertail Operations Center in Ottertail , MN for the purpose of discussing and considering the preliminary Ditch Viewers ’ Report of Re-determined Benefits and to discuss briefly the desired repairs/maintenance to the drainage system . John Lindquist, Chair , called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed the following persons from the public (drainage area) who were in attendance and who had signed the attendance sheets: Dave Adams Dan Ament Debbie Ament Andy Anderson Donna Anderson Tom Archboll Katie Bolland Ellie Caufman Craig Dahms Gina Dahms Alan Damlo Faye Damlo Robert Diederich Gina Doll Paula Doll Janelle Fritz Leo Fritz Deb Garner John Garner Pam Gaudette Mark Geraets Scott Gaudette Rich Glass Jerry Greenwood James Hammers LeRoy Huwe Rose Huwe Ben Jacobson Vicki Jacobson Tom Knudsen Joyce Kube Dori Larson Earl Lieske Mary Lieske Donna Lewin Leo Lewin John Mesenbrink Jim Moe Pam Moe Ron Onken Hector Reese Jo Reese Steven Saatler Foster Strand Lora Strand Del Thompson Kathy Thompson Scott Van Watermulen Jon Westrick Robin Westrick Daniel Zacharias David Zacharias Dennis Zacharias Joanne Zacharias Josh Zacharias Loretta Zacharias Kevin Fellbaum, Otter Tail County Ditch Inspector, stated that the order for tonight ’ s public hearing would be as follows: 1. Comments from John Lindquist, Chair - Otter Tail County Drainage Authority. 2. Introductions of County personnel. 3. Kevin Fellbaum, Ditch Inspector ’ s presentation, which would address the following: a. a brief review of ditch proceedings, b. the reasons for the public hearing, c. why the benefits were re-determined , d. a brief history of County Ditch No. 44, e. a map outlining the location of County Ditch No. 44 , f. a map outlining the original benefitted area of County Ditch No. 44, g. a map outlining the benef ited area of County Ditch No. 44 as re - determined, h. a general background on ditch viewing, which includes describing land types before and after the establishment and maintenance of the drainage system, as well as lake lot land descriptions , a general overview of the Ditch V iewers ’ Preliminary Report of R e- determined i. B enefits and how to read the report,

j. a general discussion regarding potential repairs to the drainage system, k. a general discussion of historical and current water levels on Head and Round Lakes, and l. the reading/acknowledgment of written correspondences that had been received prior to the schedule d hearing . 4. Comments from David Hauser, Otter Tail County Attorney. 5. An opportunity for comments and questions from those in attendance. 6. Adjournment and/or recess of the public hearing. John Lindquist, Chair , requested during the public comments and questions section of the meeting that individuals desiring to speak follow these general principles : 1. State your first and last name for the record. 2. Speak as loud and clear as possible so that all those in attendance can hear your comments and/or questions. 3. Address your comments and/or questions to the Board. 4. Limit your comments and/or questions to two minutes so that all those in attendance have an opportunity to speak. 5. Be respectful of the comments and questions shared by others whose opinion may differ from yours. 6. Once eve ryone in attendance that desires to speak has had an opportunity to speak you may address the Board again with additional comments and/or questions. The following individuals were in attendance and represented the County Drainage Authority and County Staff : Doug Huebsch - First District Commissioner Wayne Johnson - Second District Commissioner John Lindquist – Chair - Third District Commissioner Roger Froemming – Fourth District Commissioner Lee Rogness – Vice Chair - Fifth District Commissioner David Hauser – County Attorney Kevin Fellbaum – County Ditch Inspector Bill Kalar – Director – Land and Resource Department Di tch Viewer – Tiny Holm Ditch Viewer – Kevin Brennan Wayne Stein – Secretary - County Auditor -Treasurer At this time, Kevin Fellbaum, County Ditch Inspector, proceeded with his presentation. Mr. Fellbaum noted that two of the three ditch viewers were in attendance and available to answer questions. Mr. Fellbaum ’ s presentation is detai led in the attached document, which has been incorporated as an official part of the minutes. Mr. Fellbaum ’ s PowerPoint presentation will also be posted to the County ’ s official website. Mr. Fellbaum stated numerous times that at the end of the meeting he would record the names and property loca tions of those individuals in attendance requesting additional review by the ditch viewers of the benefits as currently re- determined and assigned to their property. Mr. Fellbaum also stated during his presentation that he would accept request s for additional review through the end of the week (October 9, 2015) . This extension would allow those in attendance that might not have understood the preliminary Ditch Viewers ’ report prior to the hearing , or who did not have access to the report , an opportunity to review the report in greater detail and to discuss the report with others in the drainage area to determine if they have a need to request additional review. Upon completion of Mr. Fellbaum ’ s presentation, the following written correspondences , which were received prior to the pu blic hearing , were acknowledged :

1. Steven and Denise Galletta and Andrew Galletta Properties , 2. Terrance Kawlewski and 3. Daniel and Debra Zacharias, Rhonda Bakke, Joshua Zacharias and Jason Zacharias . Note - A copy of these correspondences have been attached to and included as a n official part of the minutes. Mr. Hauser noted that Mr. Fellbaum ’ s presentation addressed the issues for consideration at the public hearing and indicated that he was available to answer questions. John Lindquist, Chair, opened the public hearing to those in attendance for comments and/or questions with the following individuals addressing the Drainage Authority (note these are the names captured by the secretary) : Dave Adams Debbie Ament Andy Anderson Alan Damlo Faye Damlo Robert Diederich Gina Doll Deb Garner Rich Glass Jerry Greenwood James Hammers Ben Jacobson Earl Lieske Jim Moe Pam Moe Steven Saatler Scott Van Watermulen John Werner Robin Westrick Daniel Zacharias Josh Zacharias Loretta Zacharias Note - T hose in attendance were encouraged to first focus their c omments and/or questions on the Ditch Viewers ’ P reliminary Report of Benefits as Re-de termined for County Ditch No. 44, which is the primary reason for the public hearing. Once all of the comments and/or questions have been received and addressed regarding the Ditch Viewers ’ Preliminary Report of Benefits as Re-determined there will be an additional presentation by Mr. Fellbaum regarding repair work and the historical and current ordinary high water levels of Head and Round Lakes, as well as an opportunity for those in attendance to express their view regarding potential repairs/maintenance to the drainage system. The following is the secretary ’ s summary of the public input shared by those individuals that choose to address the Board at the public hearing : 1. There is a considerable amount of State owned land in the drainage area. It was noted that the State land is included in the re-determined benefits and are assessed for drainage system repairs in the same manner as other properties within the drainage area. It was also noted that any Federal land is excluded. 2. Numerous individuals were concern ed with t he potential cost to repair the system and questioned if additional benefit s would be seen if the system was repaired. 3. There were questions regarding how the drainage area was determined. The increased size from when the system was originally established was noted. The ditch viewers indicated that they start with the catchment area as determined by the Department of Natural Resources , review contour maps, and work with the County ’ s GIS Department etc. to define the benefited drainage area. The ditch viewers noted that they did reduce the overall size of benefited drainage area from what was noted in the Department of Natural Resource ’ s catchment area. Some in attenda nce still felt the area identified as being benefited by the drainage system was too large.