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Ditch repair on Murray County agenda

SLAYTON — Murray County commissions will address a ditch repair report when it meets today.

“On Sept. 6, I inspected Judicial Ditch 14 Branch G – for a reported tile blowout located in Chanarambie Township,” a report by ditch inspector Howard Konkol said. “My inspection found a tile blowout hole approximately 3 feet long, by 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep in the oats stubble field.

“The blowout is on the county ditch system and is marked with 2 white and 2 fluorescent pink flags,” he said.

Konkol included pictures of the flagged hole. He also provided findings for inspections and maintenance repair for another county ditch.

“On Sept. 11, I met with the petitioner to discuss his concerns regarding County Ditch 24 Branch C, located in Skandia Township,” his report said. “He informed me that part of the 12 inch main was repaired back in 2012 and things were working fine until the last couple of years. “

For the last couple of years the partitioner has observed his neighbor’s field becoming larger in size with crop drown-out, which could eventually affect drainage of his property upstream, Konkol’s report said.

“He is concerned that there is a possible obstruction in the tile line or part of it may have collapsed, restricting water flow through the tile,” Konkol wrote. “He would like the ditch authority to camera the tile line up to 195th Street to determine if there is a possible problem with the tile line.”

Tile investigation and camera work would be done after crops are harvested this fall, which is planted to beans, his report said. The petitioner thinks the tile line is 7-8 feet deep and may need a track hoe to expose that tile. A dirt contractor and a camera contractor would have to coordinate their work schedules to complete the investigation.

“On Sept. 8, I met with petitioner and tile contractor to discuss crushed and mission sections of County Ditch 41 Branch H1, located in Lowville Township,” the report said of a third ditch. “The petitioner wants to add more tile to his quarter section of land and had the tile contractor out doing tile investigation to find the county tile to hook into.

“The contractor was unable to locate some of the tile line in the middle section of the branch. As he proceeded to investigate upstream, he located areas of crushed tile that was only 1 1/2 feet deep and appears to be in good condition in these areas.

“It was determined that the missing and crushed section of Branch H1 tile line may have been caused by heavy equipment running over the tile line,” he wrote. “We figured no one was aware the county tile line ran through the site and unintentionally crushed the tile.”

Konkel said he estimated that approximately 1,000 feet of 6-inch tile needs to be replaced to get the system functional and in working order.

Another ditch was also inspected.

Konkol had received a telephone on Sept. 7 from the petitioner requesting an inspection of the county tile that he said was plugged with dirt.

“I met with the petitioner, renter and contractor at the site located in Shetek Township,” Konkol wrote. “The contractor had already exposed the county tile, as the petitioner was going to add a new string of tile to the system and was going to outlet into Branch 26C.”

Konkol inspected the exposed 6-inch clay tile and found it was 3/4 full of dirt.

“I then had the contractor expose the tile line farther upstream and found the tile to be completely plugged with dirt at this location,” he wrote. “My inspection also found a blowout hole in the west shoulder of the township from the tile line coming from the east. It is my recommendation that all of Branch 26C be replaced from JD 20A Branch 26 main tile up to and possibly across 230th Ave.”

A ditch camera inspection of Judicial Ditch 2 Branch Q17 was also made this month. The report concluded with a suggestion to replace the pipe under the road as it is close to failure in its current state.

Konkol also wants the board to consider purchasing Drainage DB software and to consider applying for a BWSR FY 2018 Drainage Records Modernization Match Grant.

Other items on the agenda include reports from

* Emergency Management Director Heath Lansman asking the board to approve their board chair signing a 2017 EMPG Grant

* Jean Christoffels and Shelly Lewis asking the board to consider an FY2018 Capacity Grant application.

* Randy Groves will ask for approval for several highway maintenance bills and to consider a contract with CBS Squared Inc.

* Justin Hoffmann, Stan Larson and Stacy Posthuma will be asking the board to consider a MN Horse Council Grant application.

* Ronda Radke will be asking the board to consider an Off-Highway Vehicle Safety Enforcement Grant application.

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