BROOKINGS Burning is again being allowed in the county after a 5-0 vote by the Brookings County Commission on Tuesday morning to end the ban that had been in effect since Oct. 3.
The request was received from the Brookings County Fire Chiefs Association. Extremely dry conditions initially led to the ban, but those conditions especially after rain throughout Monday and into early Tuesday largely no longer exist.
Id just like to thank the county residents that didnt burn, Commissioner Kelly VanderWal said. As a volunteer fireman, it was nice not to have to go out to unnecessary burns. So I just want to thank the county residents for heeding that. Now that we got rain, (burning) can happen again.
214th Street options
With grant funding anything but certain, commissioners took time to discuss two maintenance options offered by Highway Superintendent Brian Gustad for 214th Street from its intersection with 34th Avenue east to Auroras city limits approximately a 2.5-mile stretch.
The first option is strictly short-term in nature, he said, and would have an annual estimated price tag of $58,050, plus mobilization costs. It involves twice-yearly dust control applications.
Gustads second option is more long-term in nature five years, to be specific and would have a higher up-front cost estimate of $200,490. It involves base stabilization and a double chip seal and would essentially turn the gravel portion of 214th Street into a blotter road basically, a sort of hybrid asphalt road, but not the real thing, so to speak.
I guess, either direction we go, obviously it isnt a fully paved surface that everybody desires, but it would be a surface that would be a little longer term, he said. Depending on, obviously, the flooding out there if something was submerged under water, its most likely going to fail.
In time, the county hopes to rebuild that portion of 214th Street so that it can better handle increasing traffic loads loads that are only going to keep increasing because of population growth and economic development in and around Brookings. Those plans, though, will cost millions of dollars and, right now, the county doesnt have that money on hand. Hence, the interim solutions that were discussed Tuesday.
Gustad favors the long-term option because of cost savings over the short-term option. The former would cost $40,000 or so each year assuming a five-year effectiveness for the blotter road approach compared to the latters estimate of $58,000 per year for twice-yearly dust control applications.
Long-term solutions, I know were looking at is seeking out grant opportunities and that, but this would be, maybe in the interim, to get us to that point, Gustad said.
When asked by commissioners about washboarding and dust-control concerns, he said neither would be a problem if that portion of 214th Street became a blotter surface.
This would just stabilize the base thats out there, possibly add some gravel in areas that need it and then basically go out there and armor up the road and cover over the top, Gustad said. What the chip seal does is, in essence, just a roof to protect that base and shed the water off the road.
Commissioner Larry Jensen pointed out that the county has, in the past, had blotter roads including one on the north side of Bruce and that over the years efforts were made to overlay those routes. Every three to four years a new application of oil and rock seal-coating them, basically would be used on those roads.
They can be tender if you have heavy equipment and stuff at the intersection, Jensen said. Otherwise, when you drive the main line this would be a good option.
One final benefit to having a blotter surface versus a gravel surface is that the former can be paved right over without having to be torn up, Gustad noted. It would, he added, be subject to weight limits in spring, likely in the 5- to 6-ton-per axle range.
In the end, commissioners voted 5-0 to support the long-term maintenance option for 214th Street, and also, on another 5-0 vote, backed pursuing a planning grant. If its won, it would help get the county in position to be considered for actual building grants, Gustad said.
Other business
At Tuesdays meeting, commissioners:
- Heard a Purple Heart County presentation honoring veterans. It came following an executive proclamation signed by commissioners declaring the county to be a Purple Heart County. The county received several signs that it can use to note the designation, along with its support for residents who are veterans.
- Received project updates from Brookings Economic Development Corp. representatives Stephanie Mason and Matty Kerr. It was also learned that Tim Reed, the BEDCs CEO, will be retiring from the position at the end of this year.
- Heard from Sheriff Marty Stanwick that one of his deputies was involved in a patrol vehicle/deer collision recently while responding to a separate cow-versus-vehicle incident, resulting in an estimated $16,000 damage to the sheriffs office vehicle.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
Leave a Reply