Ditch crew costs debated (1/24/05)

A philosophical debate about the relative merits and costs of a county-owned ditch cleaning operation appeared to be a draw.

Sparked by a question from Commissioner Gary Theurer about whether it could potentially be cheaper to hire private contractors to maintain the county’s drainage ditches and tile, most of the discussion was between the county surveyor and one of those private contractors.

Jay County surveyor Brad Daniels provided the commissioners, meeting as the county drainage board, with a cost breakdown for his department — a breakdown that showed a per-hour cost of about $32. He admitted that cost does not include some benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plan, which are paid from tax revenue and not drainage assessments.

“I just think it’s still better for us to do it ourselves,” Daniels told Commissioners Faron Parr, Milo Miller Jr. and Theurer.

But Chuck Fullenkamp, a Redkey resident who helps operate a private excavation business, said he does not believe the costs determined by Daniels are accurate. He said the average hourly rate for most contractors is about $90, while the average hourly cost estimate from most manufacturers of heavy equipment exceeds $60.

Daniels defended the work done by his crew and his figures. “Our watersheds are in excellent shape,” Daniels said.

Dewaine Hirschy, a rural Portland resident, defended the current structure. He said that even if Daniels’ cost estimates were low, the actual costs wouldn’t approach the $90 charged by contractors.

“The bottom line is, if you trash this department, you’re never going to get it back,” Hirschy told the commissioners.

Theurer said the issue had been raised by several local residents, and resurfaced in his mind several weeks ago when Daniels discussed purchasing two pick-up trucks and possibly an excavator and/or bulldozer this year.

Miller, who has been a commissioner since the early 1990s, asked Fullenkamp if he believed the county should abolish its current system of dividing the county into watersheds and collecting assessments which are used for maintenance.

In many other counties, when a project is done by a private contractor at the request of the surveyor, property owners who benefit from the project are assessed. Fullenkamp said he believed that system would be more fair than the county’s current system.

In Jay County, maintenance projects are paid for from per acre or per parcel assessments.

Also this morning, the drainage board asked Daniels and county engineer Dan Watson to look into solutions for a serious flooding problem around a group of houses east of Dunkirk. Those solutions could include hiring an engineer to provide calculations on flow and possible solutions.

Dru Hall, who lives on county road 1000 West, just south of county road 400 South, brought a compact disc with several recent and older pictures of water that gathers on the east side of 1000 West.

Daniels and Watson each said today they do not believe that a pair of 14-inch tiles in the area are big enough to handle the water around the line of homes, which are in the Baker Bantz Watershed. Those tiles carry water away to the west, eventually both emptying into a 22-inch tile that runs under county road 400 South between county roads 1000 and 1100 West.

“Instead of guessing (about a solution), let’s know,” Hall said. “Let’s get started now.”

Despite the fact that the group of houses are near the headwaters of the watershed, Daniels said the area doesn’t drain quickly because the houses are in a low area and some of the water is stopped by county road 1000 West.[[In-content Ad]]