New Richland Council to consider new stormwater fund

With the county ditch system that serves New Richland in need of a comprehensive redetermination, the city is looking at setting up a new stormwater fund to fund current and future repair needs, potentially following the lead of nearby Janesville.

The creation of a stormwater fund won the strong endorsement of City Administrator Anthony Martens, who said that he would bring such a proposal to a future council meeting. According to city consultant Abdo, just a simple council vote is all it would take to create such a fund.

Historically, the city has simply tucked a few thousand dollars a year in its budget to help cover the maintenance of the Waseca Freeborn Joint County Ditch 6, within which watershed the city sits, as well as the Waseca County Ditch 47, into which County Ditch 6 flows.

Waseca County’s Land and Water Resources Director Chris Howard visited the council meeting last week, following a meeting he had held earlier in the day with Martens and other stakeholders along the County Ditch 6 and 47 systems.

Under the proposal recommendations by evaluators, those living along County Ditch 47 would pay 60% of repair costs along the portion of ditch into which County Ditch 6 flows, an “outlet charge” which remains unchanged from past assessments.

Howard said that a number of ditches in the area, especially those serving areas with smaller benefit values, have run into a funding trap, becoming overly reliant on borrowing from the county’s general fund, as existing assessments are inadequate to cover repair costs.

To this point, Howard said that county ditches 47 and 6 have remained in financially sound shape and have needed only minimal, basic maintenance, and that the Joint County Ditch Authority is not currently planning any large repair projects.

That said, the $30,000 that is expected to be owed for the redetermination costs is substantially more than New Richland and area landowners have been accustomed to paying. Martens said that in the future, repair costs could potentially even hit six figures.

As for the city’s share of the $30,000, Martens said that it could be covered by a monthly charge on utility bills of around $5 per month. However, New Richland has its choice of how to pay its share of ditch maintenance expenses.

Martens noted that using a monthly charge paid to a dedicated stormwater fund has become Janesville’s preferred way of keeping up with ditch maintenance expenses. Janesville’s fee comes in around $13 per month per user, which New Richland Councilors recoiled at, saying it was too high.

Councilor Jody Wynnemer said that many city residents already frustrated with the current existing drainage systems, and their frustration would only increase if they see additional charges on their utility bills without major improvements to the system.

“You send me an assessment when you’ve flooded my back yard every time it rains heavily? You want me to pay for that?” Wynnemer asked. “As a property owner, I’d say you can take this statement and put it there.”