Public Hearing Set For County's Next Road Plan

The public hearing for the 1/6 Year Road Plan for Kimball County road department was set at the Kimball County Commissioners meeting on Thursday, Feb. 21. The public hearing has been set for March 21 at 9:15 a.m. The plan will be available at the road department or the clerk’s office by Thursday, Feb. 23.

One item that could potentially be on the 1/6 Year Plan is the repair or replacement of seven miles of oil road south of Dix. The plan, according to Randy Bymer, Kimball County highway superintendent, is to grind the oil road up to a depth of 4-5 inches. The cost to grind the road is estimated to be $23,000 a mile, and the intention is to grind all seven miles. The company doing the grinding can do about one mile a day.

Traffic will need to be detoured around the project for a few months, according to Bymer. After the road is ground up, the county will shape and pack it. The Kimball County Road Department will lay gravel 4 inches deep and pack that in. Bymer estimated it would take 85 loads of gravel per mile, which should provide a good solid base for the road. The shoulders will be the same, but the width of the road will be expanded to 4 feet, 2 feet for each lane of traffic.

For graveling and grinding, Bymer said the cost would be between $350,000 to $500,000. Bymer said, “To get it the way I want it” will take a couple of months of work. After a brief discussion, a commissioner asked the price to put asphalt down on that oil road south of Dix. Bymer said it would run $1 million a mile.

In other road department business, Bymer said one grader is down but the department will “hopefully have it fixed today (Tuesday).” The road department will lose another employee due to retirement in April, but the concern centered on his 335 hours of vacation which will have to be paid out.

And finally, Ordinance 2023-1 was adopted regarding Snow Emergency and Abandoned Vehicles on county roads.

At 10 a.m., a public hearing was held for an asphalt or concrete batch plant permit. Paul Reed Construction & Supply received approval for a conditional use permit for the plant, which will be used for an interstate project in the area. The time frame for completion of the project is one year.

Kimball County Transit Service Administrator Christy Warner reported on transit business. As of Jan. 31, she said 53 rides have been denied, with 20 due to weather. She explained that the weather has had a significant impact on the transit. Several vans have had to be pulled out of snow or mud.

The transit is averaging 263 incoming/outgoing calls per day, although some calls are continued calls that bog down the system. And with the growth of the transit program, KCTS has outgrown its software program.

Warner continues to work with area towns and counties on mutual aid. Warner presented a projected budget for KCTS wages for 2023-2025; due to the need to stay current with minimum wage laws, employee wages at KCTS will range from $21.25 to a low of $19.00.

Transit Week is April 9-15 and KCTS plans to do an open event on April 12 to start the Sky Line and Sun Line regional routes between Scottsbluff and Sidney.

The next county commissioners meeting is scheduled for March 7 at 9 a.m.