Section 48.22. Construction and maintenance; general.

 

(1)   Requirement. A county drainage board shall design, construct, maintain, repair and restore district drains and corridors in compliance with this subchapter.

(2)   Compliance plan. A county drainage board shall file with the department, by December 31, 2001, a plan showing how the county drainage board intends to bring district drains and corridors under its jurisdiction into compliance with this subchapter. The county drainage board shall file a separate plan for each drainage district in the county. The plan shall include all of the following:

(a) A professionally drawn map of the drainage district, showing all district drains. The map shall clearly identify the relevant features of the drainage district, including municipal and other connections to district drains, significant structures such as dams, and the location of existing spoil deposits.

(b) A restoration plan that identifies all of the following:

1. Drain segments that no longer conform to formally established cross-sections, grade profiles or alignments.

2. A priority sequence and schedule for restoring noncomplying drains to their formally established cross-sections, grade profiles and alignments.

3. An estimate of the amount of material to be removed from each drain scheduled for restoration.

4. The intended disposition of removed materials, including the locations at which the materials will be deposited.

5. The projected costs of restoration, and a plan for financing those costs.

(c) A repair and maintenance plan that includes all of the following:

1. A plan for routine maintenance of drainage structures.

2. A plan for maintaining district corridors and controlling woody vegetation in those corridors.

3. A plan for special repair and maintenance projects, if any.

4. The projected costs of repair and maintenance, and a plan for financing those costs.

(d) A plan for controlling soil erosion and runoff in the drainage district. The plan shall include the estimated cost to implement the plan.

(2m)   Hearing on compliance plan.

(a) Before a county drainage board files a compliance plan with the department under sub. (2) , the county drainage board shall do all of the following:

1. Provide every known landowner in the drainage district with notice by mail announcing a public meeting at which a copy of the plan shall be available for inspection. The county drainage board shall also publish a class 2 notice of the meeting under ch. 985 , Stats.

2. Give landowners at least 30 days after the public meeting to file, with the county drainage board, written objections to the compliance plan.

(b) Whenever a county drainage board files a compliance plan with the department under sub. (2) , the county drainage board shall also file all of the following:

1. Documentation showing that the county drainage board has complied with par. (a) .

2. Notice of any unresolved objections filed under par. (a) 2. , and the county drainage board's position on those unresolved objections.

(2r)   Compliance deadline. A county drainage board shall bring every drainage district into compliance with this subchapter by December 31, 2004 unless the department, in response to unusual or unavoidable circumstances, extends the compliance deadline in writing.

(3)   Employees and agents. A county drainage board may employ or contract with qualified persons to survey, design, construct, maintain, repair or restore district drains and corridors on behalf of the county drainage board.

(4)   Authority to enter lands. A member of a county drainage board or an employee or other authorized agent of a county drainage board may do any of the following:

(a) Enter onto any lands in a drainage district in order to survey, design, construct, maintain, repair or restore a district drain or corridor.

(b) Perform survey, construction, maintenance, repair and restoration operations on a district drain or corridor, including operations requiring excavation or modification of private land.

(5)   Notice to landowner. Before a county drainage board or its agent performs any survey, design, construction, maintenance, repair or restoration operations on private land, other than in a district corridor under s. ATCP 48.24 , the county drainage board or its agent shall notify the landowner. Notice may be given in person, by telephone, by mail or, if the landowner is not available, by posting notice at a conspicuous location at an entrance to the land. Notice under this section is adequate if given at any time prior to entry.

(6)   Construction plans. No county drainage board or its agent may, without the department's written approval, proceed with any construction project or other action under s. ATCP 48.34 for which that approval is required. No county drainage board or its agent may, without the department's written approval, deviate from the project plan and specifications approved by the department.

(7)   Other agencies; approval. Before starting any construction, maintenance, repair or restoration operation under this chapter, a county drainage board shall obtain from the appropriate government agencies all permits and approvals required for that operation.

Cr. Register, June, 1995, No. 474 , eff. 7-1-95; r. and recr. (2), cr. (2m) and (2r), am. (6), Register, August, 1999, No. 524 , eff. 9-1-99.

Note

Under s. ATCP 48.36 (1) (f) , a construction project must be designed by a qualified engineer. Sections 88.20 and 946.13 , Stats., prohibit conflicts of interest by members of a drainage board. Under s. 88.145 , Stats., a county drainage board may authorize any owner of land in a drainage district to undertake work approved by the drainage board. The liability of a landowner who does work with the approval of the county drainage board is limited by ss. 88.145 , 893.80 and 895.46 (8) , Stats. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 See s. 88.13 , Stats. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Certain construction, maintenance, repair and restoration operations in a drainage district may require permits or approvals from the army corps of engineers; the Wisconsin department of natural resources; the Wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection or local zoning authorities. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1