Ditch is located west of Parkers Prairie

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

The County Board of Commissioners, on May 11, reconvened the Benefit Redetermination Hearing for Ditch 45 from April 5, 2021. No public comments were submitted.

County Ditch Inspector Kevin Fellbaum reported the final value of Ditch 45, west of Parkers Prairie, as $349,646. 

The approval of the Ditch Viewer’s Report and order for the redetermination of benefits is planned for the county board meeting on May 25.

  A motion by County Commissioner Dan Bucholz of rural Perham and seconded by Commissioner Wayne Johnson of Pelican Rapids was unanimously carried. This authorizes cleaning a portion of Ditch 45 as requested by benefited property owners.

County Ditch 45 was established Nov. 28, 1911, and the benefits for the ditch had not, until this year, been redetermined since the original determination.

“A review of the benefited areas indicates that the original determination does not accurately reflect those areas benefited by the ditch system,” Fellbaum said. “The original determination includes only some sections in the catchment area drained by the ditch.”

The original determination does not reflect present day ditch viewing principals, and the original benefits determined in the drainage proceeding do not reflect reasonable present-day land values.

The ditch is an open channel system and over the past several years there has been some maintenance activities.

“The ditch system is in a semi-functional state, and the system would benefit from continued maintenance and from annual inspections,” Fellbaum said.

Based upon these findings, the County Board of Commissioners, as Ditch Authority for County Ditch 45, approved and issued the order for the redetermination of benefits.