Z&S awarded Kimball County contract

At the the Kimball County Board of Commissioners’ regular meeting Tuesday, July 3, County Road Superintendent Dave Hottell addressed the roads in the northwest part of the county have been neglected due to minimal equipment operators.

Hottell has been putting in many hours and wearing different hats to work accomplished in a timely manner.

“It is hot and dirty work, but we (the Road Department) have to get it done,” Hottell said.

Proposals to contract a local company to haul rock for the armor coating project were discussed as well. Z & S Construction, 3 Schoe’s and Kenneth Rageth, Sr., submitted bids for the armor coating projects in Kimball, Bushnell and Dix. Z & S’s proposal came in at the lowest price of the three competing bids and the bid was accepted. The bid from Z & S was the only bid sheet that contained prices for all three haul spots at $12.50 per ton to Bushnell, $17.50 to Dix, and $15 to Kimball. For the bid haul from Bushnell, the bid from Rageth Sr., came in at $14.60 per ton, followed by 3 Schoe’s at at $17 to Bushnell.

Following Hottell’s report, Rick Wangler, County Weed Superintendent, reported that with all the moisture in the air, Kimball County weeds grow in bigger patches. Wangler has controlled the growth with spot spraying.

He added that a big issue is that property owners aren’t spraying their weeds, choosing instead to let weeds grow and multiply. As a result, Kimball County looks bad and noxious weeds spread.

Wangler proposed a 10-15 day notice for weed spraying, though it might be labor intensive.

“I think it would benefit us because sometimes you send out notices, and never hear back from them,” Wangler said.

His suggestion includes billing landowners after their days are up, but the county would also need sprayers willing to go out and spray for this to work efficiently.

Commissioners discussed housing transit service vehicles, but the matter was tabled for further research prior to their next discussion.

With no public comments the meeting was adjourned. Next regular meeting is scheduled Tuesday, July 17 at 9 a.m.