Dredging equipment purchased by the Watershed District is going, going, gone to bidders online as the board attempts to recoup purchase costs from 2012.

So far, the district has successfully sold the three booster pumps, Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel said at Tuesday’s monthly board meeting. Each pump was sold for $75,000 — $5,000 more each than the price paid at auction for the pumps in 2012, he said.

However, after taxes and fees, Henschel said he expects a total loss of about $800 for the pumps.

“All in all, we did pretty good, seeing those pumps were purchased in 2012, and we’re selling them in 2019,” Henschel said.

Still to sell are the dredge itself, the pipe-seaming machine and pipes. Henschel said he spoke with a Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers representative on Monday, who provided options to accomplish further sales.

Those options include reducing the price asked on the dredge, a 2010 IMS 7012 Versi dredge. While Henschel said the price was first listed at $580,000 that number would soon become between $500,000 and $480,000.

“We’re going to try to drop down that price for what we’re asking for from the bid site,” Henschel said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some better hits.”

That reduced number is still over $100,000 over the purchase price paid by the district in 2012. However, the Watershed District has authorized and completed repairs to the dredge since its purchase.

Additionally, the pipe-seaming machine and pipes, which were grouped together as one sale item, will be separated for future sale.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in the pipe fusion machine and not as much interest in the pipe, so we’re going to split those items,” Henschel said.

The pipe fusion machine will be put up for sale at $35,000, and the pipe at roughly $120,000.

All the items were originally put up for silent auction on IronPlanet, a heavy equipment auction site, in December.

Watershed District board member and dredge committee member Mick Delger said he liked seeing the district had options to move forward with sales — and testing the water to see who is out there, interested.

“Getting it sold was one of our priorities,” Delger said. “(We’ve) just got to keep working at it — get it done.”

The Shell Rock River Watershed District board also approved the 2019 incentive and cost-share program, which runs every year. This year’s include cost-sharing for rock inlets and rain gardens and incentive programs for rain barrels and for industrial, commercial and municipal stormwater best management practices.

Henschel said the budgeted amount dropped $15,000 for 2019 (from $50,000 to $35,000). The projected yearly goal for rain barrel incentives and rock inlet cost shares were reduced to reflect numbers closer to what the district sees, he said.

In other action:

Weather is all that is standing in the way of the start of the Watershed District’s Adopt-a-Drain program spearheaded by Minnesota GreenCorps member Claire Rabine, stationed at the Shell Rock River Watershed District. The program invites community members to take responsibility for keeping the grate above a storm drain of their choice clean and free of debris.

“We’re trying to get people to adopt a drain by their house or their business,” Rabine said.

Storm drains throughout the city drain mostly to the lake, with no filtration or cleaning mechanisms built in, Rabine said.

She hopes to start the project when the snow melts. It has already been approved by the city, she said.

The federal government shutdown delayed the permitting process for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and has also affected the Army Corps of Engineers, Resource Technician Courtney Phillips said. Therefore, the start date for work on the Upper Twin Lake project is tentative at this point, she said, but substantial completion is still expected at the end of June. Phillips also updated the watershed board of managers on further district projects and the incoming annual water monitoring report, which will be presented at the annual meeting March 19.