County Engineer Adam Clemons appeared before the Wright County Board of Supervisors this Monday to discuss possible work on drainage tile that goes under Page Avenue on the southeast corner of Lake Cornelia by the curve. Clemons explained there was been some problems with ponding on the southeast side of the road due to a possible blockage in the tile. The supervisors’ concern is about damage to the road when the water gets particularly high. Clemons said there is already cracking on the shoulder showing. The county had explored options to bore a new tile under the road, but estimates were $150,000 to $200,000 and the engineer was not confident that this would solve the problem even after spending the money. The board did not take any action on the matter. Clemons plans to work on finding and assessing the tile in question before moving forward.
Taking up a previous matter, drainage attorney Dave Johnson presented to members of the Pogge family two options pertaining to a land bridge on their property in drainage district #107 located in Norway Township. The land bridge over a drainage ditch that the family uses to access some of their land is experiencing wash out problems. Johnson walked the Pogges through a repair option where the county would spend $15,000 to repair erosion and add riprap. There is also language in this option saying the county is not responsible for any further repairs. The Pogges expressed concern that this would not solve the washout issues and they would have the same problem during wet years. Johnson also presented an easement option wherein the Pogges would need to seek an easement with their neighbor to gain access to their land and the land bridge and culvert would be removed. The county would contribute $10,000 to the Pogge Trust in this option to help with some of the costs. No decisions were made as the Pogges decided to consult their neighbors to talk about the easement.
During their weekly conference call with ISG and Reilly Construction on the Agri-Business Park, the Reilly rep said they are making good progress with the weather, including putting in top soil and working on drainage. County engineer Adam Clemons brought up the concern that Reilly had filled some of the ditch on the south side of the road at the site, changing the grade around some pipes, making them lower than they should be. Clemons noted that the county hopes to see the area re-graded to how it was before work was started. Reilly’s rep noted that they will get everything back to how it was.
In other action, the board approved a resolution amending a resolution from last week authorizing a $1.5 mil loan. The agreement was amended to take out wording that stated the loan was state tax exempt. Because of this, the interest rate went up slightly from 2.85% to 2.95%. This was still the lowest bid received.
