2. Township road access issues - Laserfiche WebLink

RECEIVED 6/03/09 JUN ~ 1009 Agenda Item for the June 15th 3PM County Commission- Cass County Courthouse DOUNtYCO~pph Dear Cass County Commission, The residence of 14th Street NW West Fargo are proposing the raising of this gravel township road to the level of 32"d Ave. NW. The road is a bus route, a mail route, and the only means of access for eight families. This road is affected by overland flooding from Drain 14, Drain 21, the Diversion, the Maple and the Sheyenne rivers. It is a 1.75 mile stretch of gravel which becomes completely inundated during flooding, mostly due to man-made water projects. These families were without the means to access their homes for 36 days or more, depending on location, during the 2009 flood and previous floods. Their driveways are raised to accessible levels, but they cannot reach them due to the condition and flooding of the township road. Reed and Raymond Township have joint responsibility for this road. Both claim to lack the funds to raise the road or apply enough gravel so that it remains mud and rut free year round. Residents during this and previous year's floods have stayed with relatives in town and been separated from their spouses for weeks at a time due to impossible access. Even in a non-flood year, buses struggle to travel on this road. The people who live on this road have spent thousands of dollars of their own money adding gravel to the road and hundreds of hours grading the road without township assistance. If the families on this road did not have light tractors for farming and construction, they would not be able to live where they do as the road is a constant problem. This should be a township issue, we agree, however, as the townships claim no funding, we are asking the county to step in. County Engineer Keith Berndt kindly stopped out during the flood and saw the road at its worst. The Fargo Forum pictured it on the cover, and reporters visited our homes by airboat and skidsteer loader. The average distance over water which our seven families would have had to travel to get to their homes during the flood was 2.25 miles. It was not a matter of canoeing across a ditch. It was 36+ days of boating in whitecaps with children in lifejackets for 2 miles and then walking out the railroad tracks for another %: mile hoping a train wouldn't come when crossing the bridge. Option B was driving a 4- wheelerthrough the water for 2 and %: miles and hoping one could tell where the road was by watching where the waves crossed. This road must be raised so that these families can reach their homes. Both townships were in agreement to raise the road for better during the time when 2 bridges on this section of road were removed. Dane Larsen, chair of Raymond Township, stated they have wanted to raise the road for many years. What about drainage? Currently there are three culverts for East-West waterflow. We would be amenable to any plan for adding/subtracting culverts as the county desires to complete this project. What about cost? The city of West Fargo has jurisdiction (territorial) over the first mile (12th ave. to 19tH Ave.North). Perhaps a 3-way cost share can be reached- city, county- township- working together. To summarize, we simply want access to our homes year round. Thank you much for your time.