Joint Ditch Authority approves redetermination of benefits on JD13 – The Globe

The decision came during the third continuation of a public hearing initially sparked when property owners requested improvements to the ditch system. The redetermination of benefits does not mean the improvements will be made.

Ditch viewers hired by the joint ditch authority conduct the redetermination of benefits by evaluating the parcels deemed to benefit from the ditch system. Their work then leads to a reevaluation of how much landowners on the system are taxed.

Redetermination brings it into current day values, said Nobles County Ditch Systems Coordinator Brad Harberts, noting that benefits have not been examined since the systems were constructed a century ago.

A hearing on improvements to JD13 is now scheduled for April 9. Thats also the date landowners will meet to continue discussion on proposed improvements to JD9, which is also located in eastern Nobles and western Jackson counties.

Landowners on both systems are seeking improvements to include increasing tile diameter to improve capacity of the system.

Some of the tile is cracked a lot of it is 100 years old, Harberts said. Over the years, private tile has been hooked on, and everything is over capacity.

Next Friday, the Nobles and Jackson joint ditch authority will meet yet again, this time for the continuation of a hearing on Judicial Ditch 24.

Meanwhile, Nobles County has hired viewers to work on redetermination of benefits on six smaller ditch systems County Ditches 2, 4, 5, 6, 30 and the Bigelow branch channel, said Harberts.

Once the viewing has been done on those, then well need to go to a public hearing, he added.

A lot of the work of the viewers is done in the late fall through early spring, before crops impede the view of the landscape.

They physically go out and drive the landscape and see what way the water breaks, Harberts said.

CD30 is the youngest of the ditch systems to go through a redetermination of benefits. It was constructed in 1970. The rest are all about 100 years old.

As redetermination of benefits take place on some systems, Harberts said other ditch systems are slated for clean-out this winter. Nobles County received nearly $54,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damages to ditch systems from flooding.

Harberts said the FEMA money will target sediment removal on County Ditch 4 and Judicial Ditches 8, 9, 11B, 12 and 76.

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Joint Ditch Authority approves redetermination of benefits on JD13 - The Globe