O'Brien County Drainage District #5 Bid Letting Date Finalized


By Loren G. Flaugh

PRIMGHAR - Setting a bid letting date for the Drainage District (DD) #5 Cleanout Project was a primary agenda item at the Jan. 3 O'Brien County Board of Supervisors meeting. Over a year in the works, progress on the proposed long overdue ditch cleanout project continues to move forward.

DD #5 project engineer Richard Hopper had planned to attend the meeting, but due to poor weather and road conditions, Hopper called in to present his final engineering report and to propose a bid letting date for the cleanout project.

Hopper had indicated at the initial Dec. 6 public hearing that he intended to make one last field survey and study of the roughly 3,300 acre DD area in question before making his final engineering report to the Board. At that earlier public hearing, landowners voiced concerns about secondary road bridges being sized properly and an 84” diameter pipe used by one landowner as a means to access a landlocked field.

Hopper reported, “The only thing that's really changed since the earlier meetings that we haven't discussed is an old concrete slab we found poured in the bottom of the ditch towards the south end of the DD. That's going to need to come out.”

“What was that being used for?” asked new Board Chair Tom Farnsworth.

“It was used for driving farm equipment through the bottom of the ditch to get to the other side. The landowners apparently used it at one time, but now it's not useable. It's a restriction and we're going to get it taken out as part of the project,” Hopper reported.

“Now, regarding the 84” diameter pipe further north, we're going to remove it, lower it and place another smaller diameter pipe beside it. With an existing waterway overflow that goes around the ditch crossing, there should no longer be any water restriction here.

“I checked on the bridge sizes and the openings are so wide that the only way they could be holding back water is if there are trees down or ice jams in the spring. There's really nothing we can do about those instances. So, the bridge openings are all adequate.

“We now just need to get the project to a bid letting to get prices and pin down a contractor,” concluded Hopper.

Hopper suggested January 31st as a possible date for the bid letting. “I could be flexible on this,” said Hopper.

County auditor Barb Rohwer asked, “If we have the bid letting on January 31st, when do we annex in those other landowners on this thing? Right now, we're only talking about landowners in DD #5.”

“Right,” confirmed Hopper. “I have a hearing with Osceola County on a DD #8 project above this. This will be a topic for everybody in DD #8 that's above DD #5. We'll get everybody in there and alert them to what's going on down here with DD #5.

Rohwer asked, “What about the other 7,100 acre watershed area going up towards Melvin?”

Hopper said that he'd suggest to the Osceola County Board of Supervisors that they explain this to Melvin area landowners as well, even though they are not part of DD #8 further east. “That will let them also know what's going on down here in DD #5 in O'Brien County,” Hopper explained.

“When are you having this meeting in Osceola County?” Farnsworth questioned.

“It's scheduled for January 26th in Melvin,” replied Hopper. “Anyone will be able to attend.

“There's a location on our website where we'll make plans available to contractors. We can also mail plans directly to contractors,” Hopper explained. “We'll get everything arranged. There won't be mailings to landowners.”

“Will a notice need to get published in the county's official newspapers?” asked Rohwer.

“Yes. The notice should be published no less than 10 days or more than 20 days before the bid letting date,” replied Hopper.

Supervisor Dan Friedrichsen asked about the annexation process and how soon it would be done.

“I think we could proceed fairly soon with the annexation. It could be taken care of before anybody has to pay any bills,” replied Hopper.

“One thing we have to remember is the fact that no matter what happens, even if the annexation fails to go through, you have to do this by law. You are the trustees of the DD,” Rohwer pointed out.

“What would stop the annexation from happening?” questioned Friedrichsen.

“The landowners in the areas being considered for annexation must prove they are not getting a benefit from using your DD ditch as an outlet. But, they obviously are using the DD #5 ditch as an outlet. I can't see the annexation being stopped,” replied Hopper.

“When we're here for the bid letting, we can review the situation with the annexation and arrive at a plan of attack,” Hopper added.

Friedrichsen then offered the motion to set the bid letting date for 10:00 a.m. on Jan. 31st. The motion was unanimously approved.

This article was first published in the Cherokee Chronicle Times. CLICK HERE to read the article on their website.