The Silver Bay City Council faced some unhappy residents on Monday night who are frustrated about the lack of progress in resolving the problem of a perimeter ditch system that has not been properly maintained for years. Readers likely know that the ditch was built by Reserve Mining back when the town was established. Little has been done to maintain the ditch since Reserve pulled out in 1986. This has left City leadership and residents of Silver Bay with a problem that has legal parameters, which have complicated efforts to find a solution. The problem has been further complicated by the fact that the recent increase in rainfall has led to flooding in homes that border the ditch. City officials have worked to obtain drainage easements from most of the affected property owners, but there are apparently some holdouts. Council member Ben Bautch has been repeatedly trying to get the necessary easement agreements and, along with other members of the council, is continuing in that effort, but permission is needed before the city crews can go in and work on clearing the ditch so that it can drain properly.
In the meantime, homeowners who have experienced flooding a number of times are getting worried about the possibility of suffering further damage to their homes. As council members continue to work to resolve the problem, one needs to consider the responsibility that individual citizens have toward their neighbors. Minnesota law allows individuals to seek compensation for property damage caused by a neighbor’s negligence under the legal concept of negligence.
- Duty of Care: A property owner has a duty to act reasonably to prevent harm to their neighbor’s property.
- Breach of Duty: The neighbor’s actions or inaction falls below the reasonable standard of care.
- Causation: The neighbor’s breach of duty directly caused damage to a neighbor’s property. Whoever the holdout or holdouts are, hopefully they will be persuaded to act quickly and do the right thing on behalf of their neighbors. That would certainly be a wiser choice than having to compensate neighbors for gross negligence.
In other business, the council adopted several resolutions pertaining to special assessment policy, application for assessment deferment and assessment rolls for the CSAH-32 project. Readers can access the particulars on these resolutions by visiting www.silverbay.com and accessing the City Council Minutes for July 21st. There is a deferment application that is available online for residents aged 65 or older, folks who are retired due permanent disability or who to residents who are members of the National Guard or are on active duty.
The next Silver Bay Council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 4th at 7 PM. A ground breaking ceremony for the Multi-Modal Trailhead facility will be held at 10 AM on the 4th.
