The Pope County Commissioners conducted the annual public drainage hearing at last Tuesday’s regular meeting.

After a comprehensive public draining report by Pope County Public Drainage Inspector Dave Orlowski,  in which he documented the three-year ditch plans for the county as well as drainage lien recommendations.

The report covered all county ditches as well as judicial ditches.  

The board unanimously approved the recommended drainage liens for 2025 within the inspector’s annual report.  The Board is charged with setting such liens annually, it was stated at the meeting.

The 2025 Pope County Ditch Maintenance Plan documented at the meeting follows:  

*All ditches are subject to continued elements of weather and general routine maintenance issues. The following segments are proposed as places of priority but may change as conditions change. This plan shall be updated annually.

2024-2025

Clean approximately 1,400 feet of open ditch from Bill Malyon driveway toward Lake Reno. Summary of work would be full tree and sediment removal and spoil pile leveling to reestablish desired original flow. Evaluate culvert crossing for replacement or maintain in place. Clean from TH 29 to Malyon driveway. Estimated Cost – 2,600 ft x $3.00/ft = $7,950.

CD 4: Clean approximately 350 feet of open ditch from County Road 23 to the EN toward the Chippewa River. Clean approximately 1,800 feet of open ditch from 245th St to County Road 23. Summary of work would be cleaning of existing channel of sediment, cattails and debris to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated Cost – 2,150 ft x $3.00/ft = $6,450.

CD 10: Clean approximately 1,300 feet of open ditch along the south side of 255th St running 150 feet west of the Lake Nelson Access road and 1,150 feet east of the Lake Nelson Access road. Summary of work would be cleaning of existing channel of sediment, brush and vegetation to reestablish desired original flow. Also include culvert replacement in 255th St at the direction and expense of Barsness Twp. Estimated Cost – 1,300 ft x $3.00/ft = $3,900.

CD 9 and CD 8: Clean approximately 4,200 feet of open ditch from 340th Ave to 4,200 feet south and east. Summary of work would be full tree and sediment removal and spoil pile leveling to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated Cost – 4,200 ft x $3.00/ft = $12,600.

CD 12 Clean 3,500 feet of open ditch from Lake Villard to the west and south. Summary of work would be cleaning the existing channel of sediment, cattails and debris to reestablish desire original flow. Estimated Cost – 3,500 ft x$3.00/ft =$10,500.

For Year 2026 

CD 2: Clean approximately 5,000 feet of open ditch within the system as labeled. Summary of work would be cleaning of existing channel of sediment, cattails and debris to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated Cost – 5,000 of x $3.00/ft = $15,000.

  CD 10: Clean approximately 2,600 feet of open ditch from Lake Nelson to north and east near Lake Nelson access road. Summary of work would be full tree and sediment removal and spoil pile leveling to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated Cost – 2,600 ft x$3.00/ft =$7,800.

CD 15: Clean approximately 2,800 feet of open ditch from 255th Ave to the NE. Summary of work would be full tree and sediment removal and spoil pile leveling to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated

Cost – 2,800 ft x $3.00/ft = $8,400. 2027

CD 7: Clean approximately 1,200 feet of open ditch at the far easterly end of system as per map. Summary of work would be cleaning of existing channel of sediment, brush and vegetation to reestablish desired original flow. Estimated Cost – 1,200 of x $3.00/ft = $3,600.

CD 12: Clean 3,400 feet of open ditch on the far westerly segment of the system. Summary of work would be cleaning the existing channel of sediment, cattails and debris to reestablish desire original flow. Estimated Cost – 3,400 ft x$3.00/ft =$10,200.

Invasive species grants

In other business, the board , which had approved AIS grants on March 19 for Minnewaska Lake Association (MLA) in the amounts of $4,847 for starry stonewort control and $17,620 for Eurasian watermilfoil control, found out the amount was lower than first approved.  As it turned out, additional expenditures were required for starry stonewort treatment, but expenses for Eurasian watermilfoil control were lower than expected. The revised grant applications requested $6,607.90 for starry stonewort and $8,260.48 for Eurasian watermilfoil, for a total of $14,868.38 vs. the original request for $22,467. MLA will cover more than 20% of the costs from their own funds, it was stated.  The Land and Resource Management staff recommend approval of the revised request. 

Pope County will receive $85,124 from the state in 2024 for AIS Prevention Aid funding. The current balance of the county’s AIS fund is $376,976.87, according to figures shared at the meeting.  

In a related matter, the board approved a request from the City of Starbuck for a grant from the county’s AIS Prevention Aid fund to help cover the cost of treating starry stonewort and Eurasian watermilfoil in the Starbuck Marina. The city is requested grant funds in the amount of $6,038.50, while the total project cost is $7,548.12. The county’s Land and Resources staff viewed this request as an “appropriate use of AIS Prevention Aid funds and a valuable opportunity to partner with the city to prevent the spread of AIS further into Lake Minnewaska.” The request meets the criteria for use of AIS Prevention Aid funds in the county’s AIS Action Plan.    It was approved unanimously by the board.

Early voting continues

The board heard from Pope County Auditor-Treasurer Stephanie Rust that the county has “accepted’ about 10 percent of the county’s registered voters’ ballots for the Nov. 5 election.  The number of early ballots is ahead of last election, she said, and totaled 797 accepted ballots as or last Tuesday.

Green Light for Veterans

The board approved a resolution supporting Operation Green Light for Veterans at Pope County during the week of Veterans Day between November 4 and November 11, 2024.  As part of this program, sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NaCo), counties across the country are lighting their buildings green at night to commemorate the week.