After another weekend in which Seward County Highway Department staff pitched in to deal with downed trees and storm-related problems, the Seward County Commissioners on Aug. 12 deliberated how they could best pay for the many road repairs and routine maintenance needed in the county.
Highway Superintendent Jon Regnier is still gathering information on road conditions to establish priorities and plans, but offered commissioners a brief report on just 18 miles of roads in the northern part of the county to share the kind of information coming in.
With a “worst case scenario” estimate of $65,000 per mile for the county to hire a contractor to repair roads, the data had commissioners doing math.
“With 18 miles listed so far, you are talking about $1.1 million,” Commissioner Darrell Zabrocki said.
Not all of the county’s roughly 1,000 miles of road need repair, and not all that need repair would cost $65,000, according to the report Regnier offered. But the cost estimate excludes materials, which could also vary mile to mile.
Commissioner Scott Pekarek said materials could add up to $2,500 per mile.
“I want to start this,” Commission Chair Misty Ahmic said, but she said they need to have the county-wide list to set priorities that could be built into the county’s 1- and 6-year road plan. “It’s going to take us years.”
During a later portion of the meeting, the commissioners discussed whether the road repairs should be paid using the county’s Inheritance Tax fund, which is sometimes used for courthouse repairs, or whether they should consider designating a half-cent of levy to go toward the project.
“I am not one that wants to pay more taxes, but I am also one that wants roads” to be repaired, Pekarek said.
County Clerk Sherry Schweitzer said each cent of the county’s levy would likely generate about $420,000 in revenue for the county.
Ahmic proposed using the Inheritance Tax Fund for this year’s road repairs so the county can see how long the roads project will take and how much it will really cost. The second year, she said, they could consider building the road funds into the budget.
Pekarek said that approach is “kicking the can down the road,” adding later that every year the roads get lower and the ditches get higher.
“You have to continue to put more material on that road, which we are doing, but we are not doing enough,” he said.
But Zabrocki noted Ahmic’s proposal would give the board time to figure out the how this year’s state budget restrictions will actually affect them.
Commissioner Raegan Hain acknowledged that uncertainty.
“I don’t disagree with you. I do think we need to put more money aside to get our roads back up to standards. That is the bare bones facts,” she said.
Ahmic said using the current fiscal year, which started July 1 but is not approved and submitted to the state until the end of September, the county could do some of the work then determine how many miles of road could be done in a year, and perhaps consider adding more road precincts and graders to cover more roads with county staff.
Hain said the department still has extra equipment from when it had a second construction crew, but it does not have enough staff to operate it.
Pekarek said his first preference would be for county employees to do the work, but time is a consideration.
“All I am saying is I want better roads and that is going to cost money,” he said.
According to the preliminary plan, the county would hire the contractors for road repairs, allowing the regular staff to catch up on their usual road maintenance, covering vacancies on the team, and eventually freeing up time to take on regular repairs.
In the meantime, Regnier reported that he will work with the county attorney’s office to remind rural Seward County property owners that it is their responsibility to mow and maintain the rights-of-way between their fields and the roads, including removal of trees growing there, or pay a $250-per-hour bill if the county has to do it.
Pekarek said if they could get property owners to keep the rights-of-way mowed, the trees would not have a chance to grow into problems.
Hain said she sees neglected ditches narrowing and growing into the road, which causes problems for maintainers.
Regnier also reported that he has a whole-department, hands-on grader training scheduled on Bluff Road between 336th and 338th from Aug. 18-21 and Aug. 25-28 as initial or refresher training.
In other action at the meeting, the commissioners:
• Approved one valuation change recommended by the Seward County Assessor and denied a permissive exemption application for a portion of space owned by Mercy City Church.
• Deliberated over Aug. 5 meeting minutes and whether resolutions or other material prepared by the county attorney’s office should be retyped by the county clerk’s office into the body of the minutes or attached as a PDF, in the end voting 4-1 to approve the minutes with Hain opposing.
• Heard a report from Hain regarding the receipt of $11,600 into the opioid settlements fund established to provide county-based grants. The current balance is $36,852 and she expects another $75,000.
