Business as usual for County Commission this month

It was a fairly easy day for Perkins County Commissioners when they met in regular session last Tuesday in their boardroom in Bison. 

Roads and bridges were a main topic of conversation. County Highway Superintendent Cody Green will advertise bids for gravel crushing and for the grading of secondary roads, both of which will be opened at the commission’s March 7 meeting.  

For the grading bids, Green has divided the county into quadrants and the bids will be advertised such that all unorganized township roads in each section must be graded by the contractor with the successful bid and must meet Green’s standards or they’ll be asked to do it over. Should a second grading be necessary at a later date, the same contractor would be offered the job at the same cost.  

The $325,142.50 bid from Midwest Contracting to fix Mud Creek Bridge  will be completed this year and should take approximately 45 days. This is a federal bridge replacement project with the Feds picking up $266,454.28 of the total cost and the state kicking in $41,325.61. The county’s share is slightly more than 17% at $17,362.51. 

Brosz Engineering, Sturgis, has been hired to do the next state mandated bridge inspection of all bridges within the county. The county will pay 20% of the engineering bill and the state will pay the rest. 

Commissioners approved Green’s suggested equipment rental rates for the coming year, which increased a substantial amount - from 30% to 95%, depending upon which piece of equipment it is. The increase is due to the current cost of labor, maintenance, parts, etc. Computer- software derived the actual cost of operation for each machine, based on actual costs submitted. 

Sealed bids were opened at the appointed advertised time for an oil distributor and a chip spreader that were earlier declared surplus. Collin Palmer purchased the distributor for $2,901 and Larry Carr the spreader for $335. Both bids came in considerably less than the appraised value but were sold nonetheless. The county no longer has a use for them. 

Nobody attended the advertised public meeting for the sale of gravel to individuals. Green prefers to not sell to individuals at all. 

Spring load limits will be posted on March 1. 

Moving away from highway department business, Loyson Carda was hired back to the weed board for $1,250/mo. Commissioner Todd Campbell will represent the county on the Northwest Area Landfill board and Commissioner Kyle Carmichael on the County Fair Board. 

Katie Helms was granted an additional 240 hours (six weeks) of maternity leave, donated by recent employee Matt Giesler.  

Director of Equalization Corina Kocer sought approval of a survey letter that will go out to cattle and livestock producers every five years. The Predator Control board will be responsible for billing those who do not respond to the mailing at a default rate of $110. 

Kocer also discussed current state legislation that would affect county taxation, primarily schools, if passed. 

County Finance Officer Sara Stadler sought approval of increasing the values, and thus the premium, for Bison’s two ambulances.  

There were two executive sessions during this meeting to discuss personnel and litigation issues.