Trustees pause Drainage District No. 13 decision, seek Tyson clarification and survey

Drainage District No. 13 in the Storm Lake area remained at a standstill after trustees on December 3, 2025 chose to delay a decision until Tyson Foods clarifies the scope of a "simple fix" it has referenced for a collapsed tile near Expansion Boulevard. District Attorney Ryan Buske has drafted a letter giving Tyson until February 6, 2026 to respond, leaving repairs and longer term planning on hold for now.

Trustees did approve a $25,000 preliminary survey and the reclassification of the district to update boundaries and to provide a clearer estimate of potential costs for landowners. The move is intended to produce a more accurate engineer report as the district considers how to proceed.

Beck Engineering laid out three paths forward in its report. The first is a repair option estimated at about $655,000, which would involve cleaning the existing tile, fixing sections as needed, and installing access points. Engineers warned the true cost could be higher because much of the system is buried and undocumented. The second option is a full urban improvement priced at roughly $2.4 million, designed to handle a five year storm. That plan would replace aging tile, add new intakes at Expansion Boulevard and Radio Road, route water east across petitioners property, and build an open ditch to connect to the Highway 71 culvert. The third option is an agricultural upgrade estimated at $1.75 million, using a two inch coefficient to provide additional capacity for petitioners while keeping costs lower than the urban plan.

The county wide stakes are financial and practical. County Drainage Engineer Brian Blomme reported that only 11 percent of acres and 15 percent of landowners have filed objections, well short of the 70 percent threshold required to stop the project through a remonstrance. Blomme raised concerns that some landowners insist they submitted letters that do not appear in the record, and he pushed back against Buske's contention that replacing clay tile with modern PVC automatically constitutes an improvement under the law. Blomme said repairs can be done cost effectively without triggering the legal definition of an improvement, and he warned the trustees that an amendment to the engineer report may be necessary before moving forward.

For local property owners the coming weeks will determine whether work proceeds as a repair or becomes a larger improvement that could change assessments and construction impacts. Trustees will reconvene once Tyson responds and the preliminary survey provides updated boundaries and cost estimates.