For 10 years or more, residents living below Otis Creek where it intersects with the Arrowhead Trail (one half mile up from North Road) have complained after significant rain events or normal snowmelts, that the culvert plugs and their property floods.
The sediment-filled water from Otis Creek also ends up in Flute Reed River, a designated trout stream, said Rick Schubert, president of the Flute Reed Partnership (FRP), an advocacy group formed in 2006 to restore the waters and banks of Flute Reed River.
Schubert appeared before the county board on September 8 with Richard Olson, one of the people who own property affected by the flooding.
Schubert said the 42 members of his group recently voted to ask commissioners to make sure that a new culvert and repair work for Otis Creek be included in the county’s highway department 2016 budget, or vote against the budget if it wasn’t in the plans.
“To be clear, I won’t vote to support the highway budget without this being in it,” said east end Commissioner Frank Moe.
Moe has called on the highway department to replace the culvert and correct the problem several times, the last on July 28 when he expressed concern over the length of time it was taking to find a solution to fix the problem.
At that meeting County Engineer David Betts reminded Moe that his department was working at half staff in the engineering department and that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) would be attending an upcoming board meeting to explain the process for bridge bonding.
Commissioner Garry Gamble told Schubert the board would like to see all of the county roads fixed, but noted that currently the board has 19 requests for road repairs and 13 requests for culverts to be replaced at an estimated cost of $13 million, but the county only has $1 million each year to spend on roads, and he asked for understanding and patience.
“I have no patience left,” an angry Richard Olson said. “This has been going on for 10 years. I want this to be fixed now. I believe my land is being taken. I don’t believe I would be able to sell my property right now if I wanted to.”
Olson said that when the culvert plugs—which is often—he and Amy Nielsen, the other property owner most affected, are usually the ones to clear the debris and open it up.
Currently Betts is working with an engineer from Duluth on a plan to replace a small culvert on Nielsen’s property and make a berm to protect her land and house from flooding. However, at this time there isn’t a plan to fix the problem Olson is facing on the other side of the road.
Flute Reed Partnership
Flute Reed Partnership (FRP) formed in 2006 as a voluntary group “To foster stewardship within the community, to maintain, restore and enhance the health of the Flute Reed River.”
Their main goal was to clean sediments and pollution from the river, reducing its turbidity as it worked its way into Chicago Bay and the larger portion of Lake Superior.
Partnering with the Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Cook County Highway Department, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the FRP came up with a plan to correct much of the soil erosion that leeched into the river and into Lake Superior. They established a water monitoring program, planted trees along the riverbank and set long-term goals to establish water quality.
Cook County Water Plan Coordinator Kerrie Berg has worked with FRP. Berg was on hand at the meeting, telling the board she might be able to help find funds to replace the culvert. She said she has been working with Betts on the Nielsen property.
This all could have been averted, said Schubert, if the culvert had been replaced several years ago. Schubert said his group received a $540,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant in 2010 and $350,000 was supposed to be used to replace the Otis Creek culvert.
However, he said, that replacement cost was based on the estimate by former Cook County Engineer Shae Kosmalski. When David Betts, the current highway engineer was hired, he reviewed the project, and said the estimate was way too low. All of the grant money was then used for smaller culvert replacements, bank stabilizations, and stream restoration projects on the Flute Reed, and the project was once again placed on hold.
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