County sets timeline for fixing fences
Staff writer
County commissioners Monday passed a resolution to force a Peabody farmer to fix the fences that are allowing his cattle to escape and damage neighbors’ property.
The resolution gives farmer Randy Eitzen six months to replace or repair fences on his property, and orders him to have the fence surveyed to make sure they are located properly.
Eitzen’s neighbors, Lyle and Wilbur Leppke and Larry Andres, and Sheriff Jeff Soyez complained to commissioners April 17 about Eitzen’s cattle straying onto the Leppke’s property and county roads, eating Leppke’s bales and trampling his wheat.
Lyle Leppke said the cattle had damaged 30% of his wheat crop.
Commissioners last week toured Eitzen’s fences and Leppke’s property and decided fences were inadequate.
Leppke showed them Eitzen’s ragged barbed-wire fences and downed, non-working electric fence strung through small trees on the edge of Eitzen’s property.
“It’s impossible to keep electric fence hot when it goes through trees,” Leppke said.
Later that day, they instructed county counsel Brad Jantz to draw up a letter to Eitzen and a resolution.
During their tour of his fences, commissioners learned that Eitzen had hired Peabody fence builder Rusty Entz to replace the fences.
Commissioners set the matter of Eitzen’s fences on the June 5 agenda so his progress can be reviewed.