by Karin L. Nauber

karin@inhnews.com

During the public open forum prior to the start of their regular meeting that was held on Wednesday, December 6, due to the commissioners being at The Association of Minnesota Cities conference on Tuesday, December 5, Delmar Smieja talked to the board about ditches, noise, drain tiling and easements.

He said that things were changing so fast and townships were closing easements. He said the commissioners should make an amendment that would make all easements possible to be used.

He said he had to pay a hefty price to use the easements on his land.

He also addressed drain tiles and ditches.

He said that there should be something that states every five years the ditches and drain tiles should be maintained.

“We shouldn’t have to take our neighbors or family to court to get them to maintain their part of the ditch,” he said.

He said because of the refusal of people on the ditch, everything is too wet to get into it. 

He talked about issues with County Roads 14 and 16 flooding because of poor maintenance and improper size culverts.

He also addressed the issue of noise from the large farms and the noise getting “greater and greater.”

He played several recordings of noise from differing facilities and differing distances.

He also played a recording of the noise in his trailer house which is a quarter of a mile away from one facility/farm. He said that he couldn’t sleep because of the noise.

He said that other ones have mufflers which help cut down on the noise and those mufflers are pointed upward, not outward He said that he could hear the noise from this place at his nephew’s place three miles away.

He asked the commissioners to consider putting in a noise ordinance with a decibel level or something in it.

“See what you guys can do,” he implored the commissioners.

In other business:

• Approved a gambling permit for the Sauk Valley Gobblers to hold gambling activities at Diamond Point on February 24, 2018...

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