Solid Waste Administrator Tim Cadwallader, accompanied by representatives from Ottertail County, asked the Todd County Commissioners to consider becoming a part of a new multi-county solid waste program.

The county board, at its Sept. 29 evening session, was asked to sign a letter of intent to participate in the development of goals for a new organization called the Prairie Lakes Municipal Solid Waste Authority.

This organization will be made up of Becker, Ottertail, Wadena, and Todd counties. Members of each county board would govern it as a Joint Powers Board.

The plan is for this group to take over ownership of the Perham incinerator and possibly expand, and modernize, it. The Ottertail County representatives suggested the possibility of collaboration in the sales of recyclable materials, and other areas of solid waste, by the members of the new organization.

Todd County has been a member of a solid waste joint powers board for several years, but the city of Perham has owned the incinerator. Perham is now wanting to turn over ownership to a multi-county group.

Ditch issues

The Todd County board, also at the Sept. 29 session, may have brought a long standing dispute nearer to an end when they ordered Reynolds Township to lower a culvert on 232nd Street seven tenths of a foot. If the township fails to take action by the end of October the county will lower the culvert and charge the township.

The commissioners held two formal public hearings on Sept. 29, in addition to their regular quarterly evening meeting. It was at one of the public hearings that the commissioners made the motion to have the township lower the culvert. They have the authority to do so, explained attorney Kurt Deter, because the commissioners are the drainage authority for all of Todd County's judicial ditch system. The culvert is part of the drainage for Todd County Judicial Ditch 33.

Glen Middendorf, through his attorney, asked the county to have the culvert lowered. Middendorf said the culvert was blocking the flow of water in the ditch and causing his fields to flood. The culvert goes under a township road and its appropriate height has been a matter of dispute between Middendorf and the township for years.

Commissioner Kircher expressed unhappiness that the county had to order the township to take action. He would have preferred, he said, to work together with the township to solve the dispute.

Reynolds Township had no representatives at the hearing.

Clean out petitions

Another public hearing involved nine cleanout

petitions regarding County Ditches 33 and 2 in Reynolds Township. Both ditches empty into Lake Osakis. Loren Miller, a Reynolds Township landowner who petitioned for the ditch clean-out, spoke briefly on behalf of his request. The commissioners then voted not to clean out the entire length of the ditches.

Miller followed his earlier comments with a lengthy presentation on the value of cleaning county ditches, including increased tax revenues to the county. Miller, on behalf of Triple M Dairy, is requesting the clean out of approximately 9,500 feet of the main ditch and its laterals. Most of that length is on his, or his brother's, property.

The commissioners directed County Ditch Inspector Nancy Uhlenkamp to make a report to them on the cost, and possible regulatory restrictions, of cleaning out the ditch on Miller's property.

Following consideration of Miller's petition other petitions, with requests for the clean out of smaller portions of the ditch system, were considered.

Uhlenkamp will take immediate action on various requests for beaver dam removal. She will also report back to the commissioners on larger, more expensive, requests. The costs for any clean out will be paid by the land owners who benefit from the ditches.

Two speakers at the hearing expressed concern that a partial clean out will not solve the drainage problem. A full clean out will be eventually required, they said, and that may have a negative effect on Lake Osakis.