The Scott County Board on Oct. 21 continued the public hearing on County Drainage Ditch Number 4 (CD4), asking staff to return Nov. 18 with assessment models and additional information about the benefited area and the transfer proposal to the City of Credit River.

County staff member Chris Laughey described ongoing negotiations with Credit River over a conditional transfer that would make the ditch part of the city’s stormwater system. Laughey said the draft transfer agreement the county provided was returned with redline edits from the city attorney and that staff and county counsel Mr. Kolb are working through issues including indemnification language and an agreement condition that the city receive a positive maintenance account balance on transfer.

An email read into the record from landowner Kelvin (Cal) Casey expressed concern that benefiting property owners had voted to abandon the ditch and now were being asked to fund work and assessments so the city could accept the system. Casey wrote, in part: “Why should the benefiting property owners of Ditch 4 have to fund a startup stormwater account that will ultimately benefit the entire city?” He added his dual disclosure that he serves on the Credit River Planning Commission and that the views are his personal ones.

Nut graf: The board did not decide whether to abandon CD4 or transfer it to Credit River. Instead, commissioners asked staff to provide concrete assessment models (staff agreed to run scenarios at $50,000, $75,000 and $100,000 of work) and to clarify which expenses are legally the county’s responsibility versus those that would be the city’s after transfer. The board also requested a clearer accounting of the current benefits roll and how many properties would be assessed.

Key facts and concerns cited at the hearing

- Maintenance fund status: Staff reported the CD4 maintenance fund is in the negative; a figure of roughly $15,000 (negative) was stated in the meeting.
- Beaver dam: A beaver dam on CD4 prompted complaint; the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), as the county drainage inspector, is addressing the beaver issue and staff said the immediate costs will be assessed as part of any final maintenance lien.
- Benefited owners: Staff said the current benefits roll includes more than 300 parcels when common areas are allocated across many residential properties, noting assessment amounts would vary by benefit share.
- Rehabilitation estimates: Engineers’ earlier work and SWCD recommendations identified several localized sedimentation, obstruction and bank failure areas; staff said fuller rehabilitation estimates range from tens of thousands up to $50,000–$100,000 and asked the board to direct a modeling threshold.

Board direction and next steps

Commissioners expressed general support for pursuing a transfer to Credit River but disagreed over how much pre‑transfer work the current benefited owners should be required to pay. Several commissioners emphasized they did not want the county to accept open indemnity exposure beyond its existing obligations; county counsel said the indemnity language in the draft would be limited to county actions prior to transfer.

The board voted to continue the public hearing and revisit CD4 at the Nov. 18 County Board meeting at 8:00 a.m. Staff was directed to return with (a) assessment pro formas at $50,000, $75,000 and $100,000 of repair work, (b) a detailed listing of the benefited area and current benefit allocation, (c) an accounting of the negative fund balance and pending charges (attorney fees, SWCD inspection), and (d) a redrafted transfer agreement reflecting the board’s guidance about indemnification and fund balance.

Ending note

Board members stressed they want to be a good partner with municipalities and to avoid saddling a small set of benefited owners with disproportionate costs if the city is the ultimate beneficiary; staff will use the requested modeling to inform the board’s next decision.