Public Improvement & Transportation Committee

MINUTES PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT/TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING May 28, 2024 9:00 AM MEMBERS PRESENT: Craig Schafer and John Alcorn MEMBERS ABSENT: James Lozinski STAFF PRESENT: Jason Anderson, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Eric Hanson, Assistant City Engineer; Sharon Hanson, City Administrator; E.J. Moberg, Director of Administrative Services; and Stephen Zimmer, City Administrator Intern. OTHERS PRESENT: Troy Gilchrist (via Zoom), Kennedy & Graven Attorney; John Biren, Lyon County Planning and Zoning Administrator; and Eugene Bossuyt, Resident and Landowner. Call to Order Schafer called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. 1. Consider Approval of the Minutes MOTION MADE BY ALCORN to approve the minutes as presented, SECOND BY SCHAFER. The motion passed. 2-0. 2. MERIT Center/Industrial Park Drainage Discussion Schafer opened the discussion and asked Bossuyt to explain the situation as he interpreted it. Bossuyt explained he had been farming the area for 23 years and showed the committee various maps of the land and his private ditch. Bossuyt continued that Noyes had drainage issues and had paid Bossuyt in 1982 $6,000 to outlet into his private ditch. Bossuyt also mentioned that DeVos to the south drained into his ditch but payment was never received for the connection as Bossuyt wanted to be neighborly. Mosch had initially approached Bossuyt to install a 6” outlet but after the work was completed a 10” outlet was in place and Bossuyt didn’t want to make a fuss and let it be. That 10” outlet was then inherited by the City of Marshall when the MERIT Center was expanded. Schafer explained the perspective of the city on the situation. Members talked about the installation of the retention ponds and the need to increase the size of the 10” outlet because the ponds were holding water for extended periods of time, so adjustments were made to speed up the removal of the standing water. Schafer apologized to Bossuyt that the city should have been better with communication on the upgrades and broached the topic of a maintenance agreement to ensure that future generations won’t run into these miscommunications. Director Anderson did a review of the drainage north of the city and would like to have Bolten & Menk do some modeling at the 300th Street crossing. A larger box culvert would improve the flow of the private ditch and might help with the ditch breaching its banks and overflowing. Bossuyt pointed out that a hook on the southeast corner of Debaere’s property significantly inhibits the flow of the ditch. Bossuyt asked about installing an additional pond at the MERIT Center, and Anderson clarified additional storage wouldn’t help at this point because the water will need to go to the ditch and storing the water for an extra hour or two wouldn’t fix the flow/drainage issue on the ditch. Anderson was concerned that an improved culvert at 300th would impact the portion of the ditch north of Wambeke at the Highway 59 crossing because that portion of the ditch was wide and shallow. Biren introduced a suggestion about re-aligning the ditch at the first dog leg to the ditch hook on DeBaere’s property. The group discussed the various pros and cons of re-alignment. Schafer reiterated that the city would like to have some legacy or permanence on the ditch in the form of an agreement of some sort. The group moved the conversation to possibly pattern tiling the NWNE of section 22 on the Louwagie property with assistance from the city. Biren mentioned that Bolten & Menk was widely used throughout the State for drainage projects and had assisted Lyon County with several ditch projects. Alcorn inquired about the cost of pattern tiling, which the group was unsure of how many would be needed. Biren estimated that $800-$1000 per acre to pattern tile sounded reasonable. Bossuyt added that the area PI/T – 05/09/2024 -1- to be tiled was roughly 20-30 acres. Anderson said that modeling indicated that the ditch had high flow near 300th Street and tiling wouldn’t alleviate enough pressure off the ditch. Schafer said the three best options would be to improve the culver at 300th Street, pattern tile or to realign a portion of the ditch. Biren suggested the possibility of a water retention project in the low area on the Louwagie property and that there was grant money available to assist. Bossuyt also suggested trading some of the Mosch property for the Louwagie property that could be taken out of production by a project. MOTION MADE BY ALCORN, SECOND BY SCHAFER to direct staff to work with Bolten & Menk to investigate and model the three options of improving the 300th Street crossing, pattern tiling and realignment of the ditch. Staff are to report the results of the evaluation back to the Public Improvement & Transportation Committee for further discussion on which option would be the most viable. The motion passed. 2-0. Adjourn At 10:13am MOTION BY ALCORN SECOND BY SCHAFER to adjourn. The motion passed. 2-0. Respectfully submitted, Steven Anderson, City Clerk PI/T – 05/09/2024 -2- MERIT Center Outlet Debaere “Hook” PI/T – 05/09/2024 -3- 300th Street Crossing Ditch Realignment at Dogleg (estimated proposal) PI/T – 05/09/2024 -4- PI/T – 05/09/2024 -5-