Staff photo by Fritz Busch Storks wade in Altermatt Lake next to Treml County Park Wednesday. After hearing from nearby landowners Tuesday, Brown County commissioners denied a quote to repair a lake outlet in favor of re-biding the project. Brown County Engineer Andrew Lang will review the project and make a recommendation for future board consideration.

NEW ULM — After hearing from landowners Tuesday, Brown County commissioners approved denying a quote and re-biding a Lake Altermatt outlet project at Treml County Park.

The park located in Leavenworth Township, covers 18.2 acres and has more than 4,000 feet of shoreline on the East shore of Altermatt Lake.

Commissioners originally planned to salvage an existing 35-inch culvert, replace three cement culverts and restore the site due to visible signs of erosion and degradation. The Brown County Park Commission recommended approval of a $7,817 bid from Sandgren Trucking & Excavating of Fairfax to do the work.

The project was issued a work permit valid until Dec. 9, 2030, from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

At their Tuesday meeting, commissioners heard from landowners near the park and decided to change the project and re-bid it.

Landowner Pat Sturm said his tile would be affected by the lake level.

“We think the system there now meters the (lake level) flow out, protecting the bottom land owners from flooding that could occur with the lake level rising too fast,” he said. “In my opinion, fix the tile that shows damage and leave everything else alone because it seems to operate sufficiently.”

Another landowner with property on the north side of the lake said he agreed with Sturm.

Dave Hillesheim said his tile next to the lake would be affected by raising the lake level.

“I have animals in the pasture next to the lake. I would have to move them back and make a new fence,” he said. “I also own property where the lake outlet is. We put in a spillway and have crossings to get to different fields. Right now, everything works. If it floods, it runs over the top of them. It causes some damage, but if it happens every year, we’re concerned out crossing will wash up. Then we have to fix all that. The culverts seem to work. We hope you guys fix the outlet and move on.”

Commissioner Brian Braun agreed with the landowners. He made a motion to replace the 15-inch south culvert with plastic tile to stop erosion and patch the box culvert on the outlet where erosion already occurred.

He recommended getting a project recommendation from Brown County Engineer Andrew Lang and bringing it back to the board for future consideration.

Action approved by a 4-1 vote, came on a motion by Braun, seconded by Dave Borchert. Commissioner Jeff Veerkamp cast a dissenting vote. He said replacing one tile was a “temporary fix.”