Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Rain, rain, and more rain. We have been able to catch up on some equipment maintenance. Some of the larger problem trees and some fallen trees around the precinct have been cut up and piled to burn. The few semi-dry days this week have afforded us the opportunity to do some patching that has been neglected while we were building roads the last two months.
The County has had the last of the budget and tax rate hearings on Monday. I think from the questions posed, we satisfactorily explained the rate and the reasons for the budget changes. The Commissioners as a whole took the lead in giving their employees a small raise, but paying for it without increasing our budget allotment. We all are carrying a certain amount of contingency money that we will have to do without next year. I think that is responsible and sensitive to the harder economic times.

Monday, September 14, 2009

We have now finished the immediate improvements to the "Pipeline " roads. We do have CR1905 yet to complete, but we have been working hard and fast to beat this rapidly approaching fall temperature. The rain and early onset of cooler temperatures may cause that to be postponed until late spring, early summer. We surfaced the bottom road on CR1680 with the ground up asphalt called RAP. It will be damaged every time it floods that road (often!) and we can blade it back fairly easily. The high ground was surfaced with RAP mixed with oil as an experiment and it layed down well and appears to cohere fairly well. We have other areas of the precinct that are lightly traveled that might benefit from this method because it makes a good surface and is inexpensive.
Some people in the precinct don't know that if you need a culvert for your property, call us. We will come out to assess the need, tell you what size culvert to buy, and we will install it for FREE! We have had some people try to put it in themselves and we can't let them do that because the bar-ditch belongs to the county. We have to maintain it so it needs to conform to certain specifications. If you need one, give us a call.
On the "local option" election, I don't really care one way or the other. The way it is now is acceptable to me. I happen to drink alcohol and have no problem driving out of town to purchase my needs. However, I am sensitive to the arguement that it would boost local sales tax revenue considerably. As far as the Court calling for the election, it is our responsibility to respect the lawfully submitted petitions and let the voters decide the issue.