AD SPACE
County weight limits raised
Dan NordineKittson County Highway Engineer Kelly Bengtson told the Kittson County Commissioners last week that all 9-ton roads in the county are now 10-ton roads.
Bengtson said change comes through state legislation, but the county does have the option to “sign” the roads a lesser weight if they feel it is required.
The 10-ton status is only for those vehicles hauling raw commodities and is not applicable to trucks hauling gravel or concrete and other materials.
Commissioner John Anderson commented that the purpose of the upgrade in limits is to help move more product from the field to market.
“The problem is,” he said, “they don’t pay costs for the damage to the roads.”
Bengtson then informed the board that his department is coming in way over their budget for this year, primarily because of higher fuel costs. He said fuel alone is running about $250,000.
Having said that, he turned his attention to County Road #63, a two mile section of that road runs south from U. S. Highway #11 and south to the Marshall County line, a distance of approximately two miles.
Local farmers who have been using that stretch of #63 had requested upgrading it due to its poor condition. Bengtson said it has major issues in the spring during the planting season due to wet areas and soft spots.
The highway department had plugged the repair of that road into its budget at a cost of over $200,000. Since it is not a road that qualifies for state or any other sort of aid, all the costs would have to come directly from county funds.
“The road is in very bad shape,” Bengtson said, “and it has been included in the new budget.”
But with the department so far over budget and the unknown factor of rising fuel costs, he was skeptical of the county’s ability to fund the project.
“With budget constraints this year,” Anderson said, “it just can’t be done.”
Anderson asked if there was any way to set up a dedicated fund to spread the costs over a long period of time, like four years.
The department is forecasting a 70 percent increase in fuel costs for next year, an amount that comes in over $350,000. He also indicated that they are in need of two motor graders which also present a substantial number to the overall budget figures.
The fuel problem is not just giving the Highway Department headaches, but all of the departments that require travel. The highway Department, however, uses substantially more fuel than other departments.
The issue of future fuel costs is one that will certainly weigh heavily on the commissioners as they try to juggle budget figures for the coming year. Especially since no one can be certain where those prices will top out.
Warning: extract() [function.extract]: First argument should be an array in /usr/local/www/data/newpage1/static/nsnews/right.html on line 14
County weight limits raised
Dan Nordine
Kittson County Highway Engineer Kelly Bengtson told the Kittson County Commissioners last week that all 9-ton roads in the county are now 10-ton roads.
Bengtson said change comes through state legislation, but the county does have the option to “sign” the roads a lesser weight if they feel it is required.
The 10-ton status is only for those vehicles hauling raw commodities and is not applicable to trucks hauling gravel or concrete and other materials.
Commissioner John Anderson commented that the purpose of the upgrade in limits is to help move more product from the field to market.
“The problem is,” he said, “they don’t pay costs for the damage to the roads.”
Bengtson then informed the board that his department is coming in way over their budget for this year, primarily because of higher fuel costs. He said fuel alone is running about $250,000.
Having said that, he turned his attention to County Road #63, a two mile section of that road runs south from U. S. Highway #11 and south to the Marshall County line, a distance of approximately two miles.
Local farmers who have been using that stretch of #63 had requested upgrading it due to its poor condition. Bengtson said it has major issues in the spring during the planting season due to wet areas and soft spots.
The highway department had plugged the repair of that road into its budget at a cost of over $200,000. Since it is not a road that qualifies for state or any other sort of aid, all the costs would have to come directly from county funds.
“The road is in very bad shape,” Bengtson said, “and it has been included in the new budget.”
But with the department so far over budget and the unknown factor of rising fuel costs, he was skeptical of the county’s ability to fund the project.
“With budget constraints this year,” Anderson said, “it just can’t be done.”
Anderson asked if there was any way to set up a dedicated fund to spread the costs over a long period of time, like four years.
The department is forecasting a 70 percent increase in fuel costs for next year, an amount that comes in over $350,000. He also indicated that they are in need of two motor graders which also present a substantial number to the overall budget figures.
The fuel problem is not just giving the Highway Department headaches, but all of the departments that require travel. The highway Department, however, uses substantially more fuel than other departments.
The issue of future fuel costs is one that will certainly weigh heavily on the commissioners as they try to juggle budget figures for the coming year. Especially since no one can be certain where those prices will top out.