Summary of VI. Construction of Drainage Project Summary of VI. Construction of Drainage Project

Summary

After a drainage project has been ordered, the petitioner’s representative should ensure the order is date-stamped as received and filed with the county auditor or secretary of the watershed district. This starts the 30-day appeal period that must take place prior to a contract for the drainage project to be let. Appeals are discussed in Section VI, A.

Awarding the construction contract is different depending on whether the construction is for establishment of a new drainage project or for repair of an existing drainage system. Whether competitive bidding must be used depends upon the estimated cost of the contract. Other procedures for awarding the construction contract, including how the contract may be awarded (“bidding”) and the procedure for rectifying bidding if a contract is not awarded due to bids or costs, are provided in Section VI, B.

The construction contract specifications are typically drafted by the project engineer, but prudence suggests that before the contracts are approved, the project attorney and the engineer discuss the objectives of the construction contract and how those objectives will be implemented. Both the contract and bond must include the required provisions from Minn. Stat. 103E and Minn. Stat. § 574.26 (bonding for public works). The contract adopts the plans and specifications as prepared by the engineer. During and after the construction of the project, the project engineer is to inspect the work being completed and demand it be done according with the plan, specifications, and contract for construction. Contract terms and contract changes during construction, the guaranty of tile work, contractor’s default, inspection of drainage construction and partial payments, and extension of time on the contract are further described in Section VI, C.

When the contract is complete, the engineer makes a report to the drainage authority showing the contract price, amount paid on partial payment certificates, unpaid balance, and a summary of the work completed under the contract. Upon receipt of the engineer’s report, the auditor or secretary of the watershed district is required to set a time and place for hearing on the report. The hearing gives all affected parties an opportunity to state their objections or complaints to any portion of the construction process, such as damages to their land by the contractor not compensated for in the final order, failure to install culverts or inlet tile, etc. The final hearing proceedings are followed by a final acceptance order (Section VI, D), which is concluded by the engineer’s final, as-constructed survey that shows the drainage project as actually constructed on the original detailed survey (Section VI. E).