The Crookston Township Board held an Emergency Meeting this afternoon at the Valley Technology Park to discuss any action they would take on a gravel road that was being washed out by rising Red Lake River waters.
The Board had received a call from a resident about 237th Avenue SW, a gravel road south of the Baptist Church, being washed out by the river and getting destroyed. Without the road, the residents who live at the end of it would be trapped without any way for them to leave or for the Fire Department or Emergency Ambulance Services to reach the property safely, as over 100 feet of the road was covered by at least 4 inches of water. “The road meanders back to some property and a horseshoe-shaped part of the river, so the water started running over the road, and we were trying to figure out if we should fix the road right now or what we should do safely to keep the people safe back there.” Crookston Township Board Chair Dean Adams explained. The property is owned by an elderly couple. The Board had to make a difficult decision as to what they would do to help the people as the road’s conditions continued to worsen with the rising waters that made it unsafe for anyone to go to build a dike or fix the road while water flowed against it, but could not leave the residents to be trapped in their home.
The Board first tried reaching out to private contractors and City workers to get materials and equipment to help make a path for cars to go over, but after reaching out to local contractor Dennis Donarski of Donarski Brothers Inc. who had gone to see the road firsthand. He reported that he felt it was unsafe for anyone to get trucks there to build the road safely. The Board then decided to try and have a Sheriff’s Deputy from the Polk County Sheriff’s Department go to the property and try to convince the residents to leave their property for a few days for the storm to pass. Then the Board would repair and fill the road again when the conditions were better. “At this point, we contacted Chief Froeber, who brought in the Polk County Emergency Manager Jody Beauchane and the Sheriff’s Deputy,” said Adams. “They’re going to have the Sheriff’s Department go and try and visit the residents to see if we can get them to evacuate so that we know that they’re safe.”
The Board is hoping for the resident’s cooperation and will accommodate them until it is safe for them to take the road back to their property again and have a chance to fill and repair the road under better conditions. “The final thing for us was when our contractor didn’t think it was safe for us to send someone there. We don’t want to put someone in harm’s way to try and save this road,” said Adams. “We’re hoping that we can get these people out and bring them to town for a few days and deal with it when the river goes down so we can be safe about it.”
The Crookston Township holds regular meetings on the third Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m. in the Valley Technology Park.
