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Flooded highways earn disaster funds
Published 12:00 p.m., September 2, 2009
Otter Tail County will receive disaster funding to cover the entire costs of eliminating the standing water on closed highways 24 and 30.
Otter Tail County commissioners congratulated county Highway Engineer Rick West on finding the funding Tuesday.
The county will receive $1.3 million from the state aid highway funding’s disaster account. West said the funding will cover the entire cost, even if the costs go higher than $1.3 million.
Commissioner Doug Huebsch pointed out that the disaster funding will save the taxpayers’ money because the county has no choice in completing work on the highways.
To receive the funding, West needed to show there was a situation of hardship. West said he approached it by showing the county has dealt with high water on those roads for the past five to six years.
County state aid highway 30 travels over Lake Olaf west of Pelican Rapids. The county is planning to create a ditch as an outlet to Lake Olaf to reduce the high water.
County state aid highway 24 is closed two miles east of Rothsay. To reduce the flooding on the road, the Highway Department is planning to pump the water into Ditch No. 56, which then will travel into a crick and Wilkin County.
“This is water for Fargo,” Commissioner Lee Rogness said.
Also during Tuesday’s county board meeting, the board was scheduled to set a fee to be paid to the ditch system to allow the county to pump the water into Ditch No. 56.
However, county Attorney David Hauser pointed out that law requires the property owners who benefit from the ditch be notified about the county’s plan and hold a public hearing. The fee would then be set at the hearing.
Rogness wondered about the timeline and if the solution to the problems could be kept in motion while the county holds the hearing. Commissioner John Lindquist said the county should do whatever it takes to complete the work quickly.
Huebsch wondered if there was a clause in the law for emergency situations because if the county doesn’t pump the water off soon, it will have more problems.
The key, according to Hauser, is if Ditch No. 56 can handle the additional water.
Ditch Inspector Randy Wasvick told the commissioners that the ditch can handle the water due to the ditch being cleaned about four years ago. West agreed, saying it was one of the county’s better ditches.
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The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post. To post a comment you will need to register. Or, if you're already registered but have not included your true, verifiable identity with your registration, you will need to update your account to include your identity. Effective Dec. 1, 2009, all posts appear with the commenter's true identity, which must be verified by site staff. Those who registered prior to Dec. 1, 2009, should be aware that once you update your information with your true identity, all prior posts under your user name will also indicate your true identity. If you do not wish to link yourself to prior comments, you should register again with a different user name.Posted by alum03 (anonymous) on September 2, 2009 at 4:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Would this "ditch" out of Olaf Lake have a control structure like other lakes in that area??? or will they just let it run???? The county has not formed a permanent solution to the problems on county highway 10 west of Elzabeth yet. Yes, that road is dry, now, the county in one case pumps water out of a slough and into Lake Oscar, and in the other spot drains the flooded slough constantly in the same lake. The problem is: they have a control structure on Lake Oscar's outlet. They put water in any time of year, and only let it out when it's convenient for the people downstream. The outlet, which drains only a fraction of the rate that water is put in, was installed because they needed to add water to the lake. Now, what about the people who have concerns on the lake???? They are left with everyone else's waste. I do not know the area of Lake Olaf enough to know what other "problem" spots could be bandaided by draining water into Olaf, but I warn, they may be creating a "holding pool" as they have done on Lake Oscar.
Posted by just_peachy (anonymous) on September 3, 2009 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I sure hope that they also look into what possible solutions there are for Hwy 108 west of Pelican Rapids which has been closed since this spring when it flooded again. This is the main road people in the area take as the cut across to Interstate 94 and it would be nice to have it open. In this case too, there are a few different sources of water that are draining into that slough causing it to rise and flood so until the draining/run off from those other sources is addressed, it might just be a mute point.
Posted by Clara (anonymous) on September 3, 2009 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would probably understand this story better if I knew what a "crick" was. Buehler...anyone...
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