County road plans move slowly ahead

After a visit with Engineering International’s Jeff Tidyman and Joshua Shiach Aug. 24, Chase County Commissioners Jacci Brown, Duane Dinnel and Dennis Kunnemann proposed a $4 million, 10-year bond to pay for work on the paved roads west of Champion and south of Wauneta.
Questions remain, however.
Tidyman said testing is complete at Champion. He’d like to see a three-quarter inch to one-inch overlay applied to the road.
Road foreman Mark Balderston is opposed to such a thin overlay and wants to see the county put on a four-inch overlay.
The Wauneta road is in good shape up the hill and around the curves south of town. The road has a lot of cracks from that point on to the Chase/Dundy County line, however.
Balderston would like to see the county use a mat product under the overlay to help the cracks.
Both projects are tentatively set for next summer.
Balderston requested permission to order a semi load of metal culverts. Some will be used in places where roads flooded Aug. 20.
Balderston will also be looking into rental rates for a vibrating roller to fix roads.
The commissioners approved the one-time purchase of a GPS program from Prairie States Communications for use by the roads department at a cost of $10,000.
The program will help track where grader operators are and help record when and where roads have been graded.
Currently, each grader operator has a tablet used to keep track of routes, fuel use and other information. The county has a $400-plus dollar per month contract with Viaero for data on the tablets, which will be canceled.
The board reviewed a list of concerns around the new county building, including a leaking roof and adding a janitor’s sink.
The board set Sept. 9 for its first budget hearing and approved adding a Board of Equalization meeting to the Sept. 14 commissioners’ meeting to approve Assessor Dotty Bartels’ three-year plan of assessment.