DAKOTA CITY — Facing a group of landowners with different opinions on a drainage project, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors compromised on a project Monday.

At issue is an aging drainage tile in Sub District 5 of Drainage Distract 11 east of Bradgate. The tile has become inadequate and a relief tile estimated at between 13,000 and 14,000 feet in length is going to be installed. The old tile will remain in place.

At a project bid letting Monday, seven contractors submitted bids to install concrete tile; four also included bids for polyurethane tile.

However, landowners at the letting and those who have submitted comments to the board are split over which material to use and the capacity of the system. Some opposed to the project said that since the project was going to happen anyway they would prefer a less expensive half-inch coefficient system with polyurethane tile. Others preferred doubling the system capacity to one inch and using concrete, a more expensive option. They said they needed the capacity.

Gehrke Inc., of Eldora, submitted the low bid for a one-inch system using polyurethane at $911,046. They were also the low bidder on the same system using concrete at $1.008 million. The company’s bids for a half-inch system were $737,272 for concrete and $758,089 for polyurethane.

The supervisors have never used polyurethane tile, but Jeremy Maas, representing Gehrke said his company has used both and if installed properly they were comparable. Polyurethane has been used extensively in Minnesota, he said.

“I fully understand where you guys are coming from or anyone else that just didn’t really care for the project in the first place, you would like to see less expenditure moving forward but still having drainage,” Supervisor Erik Underberg said.

“I was amazed at how well our drainage districts did work this spring when we had these five-, six-, seven-inch rains,” Supervisor Rick Pedersen said.

The board decided on a one-inch system using polyurethane and awarded the contract to Gehrke.

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In other business, Pedersen said the county might receive Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for some of the high water earlier in the season. If local farmers know of any drainage district issues such as washouts or banks eroding, they should notify Drainage Clerk Trish Egli.

The board approved law enforcement and emergency services agreements with the towns of Hardy, LuVerne, Rutland and Pioneer. The contracts are for two years and the cost has increased from $10 per capita to $11 per capita.