Council sets Sixth Street Ditch work session

     Bill Meyer, who resides along the Sixth Street Ditch on N. Gill St., urged the Monticello City Council to take action on improvements to the ditch sooner rather than later.

   Meyer, who used to serve on the council, recalled a 50-50 cost share agreement between the city and property owners concerning maintenance of the ditch. He said he took part in that program to clean up the ditch on his property several years ago.

   Council member Tom Yeoman commented that he didn’t believe the 50-50 cost share option was still in place.

   “It’s worth investigating, though,” offered Yeoman.

   “It’s awfully hard to fix something when you don’t know what the rules and regulations are,” Meyer said.

   If the council wants property owners to maintain their share of the Sixth Street Ditch, he said the council needs to define the clear objectives.

   “It used to be on the city to maintain the ditch,” Meyer said.

   He said property owners don’t know the scope of the work that needs to be done along the ditch. So when it comes to hiring a contractor to do the work, the directives aren’t clear.

   “What do you want?” he asked of the council.

   Mayor Dave Goedken said the council, city officials, and the city engineer plan to have a public work session to hammer out the details and to see if any immediate fixes can be made to the ditch. The work session will take place on Monday, Oct. 24, following the city council meeting.

   “It needs to be cleaned,” Goedken said. “The whole thing.”

   Meyer also said the council needs to determine who will cover the expenses associated with the ditch.

   “We’ll address that, too,” Goedken said. “We’ll have to establish a policy because this is creating a lot of problems.”