Property owners reminded they have to get tree piles out of ditches

YORK – Property owners are being reminded they can’t just create tree piles in their ditches and then leave them there. They have to be cleaned out and within a certain timeframe.

​This week, as Greg Heine and Ashley Rasmussen from the York County Roads Department met with the York County Commissioners, they talked about how there are such piles of discarded dead trees in locations throughout the county – and they need to go.
“State statute says trees can be piled in ditches and in the right-of-way, but they have to be burned and gotten rid of,” Rasmussen said.
“It is a problem if they are left in the ditches, as they can create a safety hazard and liability, as well as be the cause of road problems,” Heine said.
Commissioner Randy Obermier asked how long tree piles can be left in ditches – Rasmussen said state law mandates they have to be burned/cleaned out in five days.
The two also noted how they have been going through driveway applications and looking at driveways where there was no application before they were created. They noted how anytime someone creates or alters the right-of-way, they have to get an application ahead of time to do so.
In other business regarding the roads department:

• Heine said they recently met with an electrician regarding a quote for hooking up the new generator for the shop.
• Conversations have been held regarding the purchase of a new motorgrader.
• Painting of gravel trucks continues.
• Heine said a recent online auction of surplus property “went wonderful and a lot of unnecessary things are leaving the yard. We brought in about $35,000, before commissions.”