Commissioners balk at bridge plan
Staff writer
County commissioners listened Monday to Doyle Creek watershed officer Brian Lang but took no action on his proposal that a culvert on 80th Rd. be replaced with a span bridge.
Lang said the watershed district had 17,000 deficiencies it needed to mitigate.
A span bridge would reduce 70% of them, he said.
Although the watershed district would be reimbursed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an amount has not been determined.
“We’re not going to know how much cost will be to the county until we know how much reimbursement,” Lang said.
Commissioners weren’t prepared to jump onboard.
“Bottom line, that road is not a favorable road to spend $100,000 on,” commissioner Randy Dallke said, adding that he’d rather spend money on 90th Rd.
Dallke said he thought the public wouldn’t understand putting in a bridge on 80th Rd.
“If we put together a project on 90th to make sure that road never floods, could it be the same as this?” Dallke asked.
Lang said no.
“I just want to spend our money wisely, whether it’s our money or state money or whose it is,” Dallke said.
Commissioner Kent Becker asked Lang if he had a cost benefit analysis, but Lang said no.
Dallke said if it were another road that he considered “do-able,” he would support that. He thought it a more feasible idea to investigate low water crossings instead of building a bridge.
Engineer Brice Goebel said the county has better places to spend $100,000.
In other business, commissioners:
- Approved a new application for a cereal malt beverage license for Last Chance Bait Shop.
- Approved a contract with GFI Engineering for monitoring the county transfer station.
- Approved deputy register of deeds Jo Ottensmeier to move to part-time administrative specialist duties.
- Approved a vacation carry-over for an employee in the treasurer’s office.
- Heard quarterly reports from county appraiser Nicole Reid and Soyez.