03-21-2005 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Road Advisory Minutes--March 21, 2005 1 ROAD ADVISORY COMMITTEE MARCH 21, 2005--2:00 PM 1. MEETING TO ORDER Commissioner Ken Pawluk, Highway Department Portfolio Commissioner, called a meeting of the Road Advisory Committee to order at 2:00 PM on Monday, March 21, 2005, in the Commission Room, Cass County Courthouse. Members were present as follows: Vern Bennett, Robyn Sorum, Darrell Vanyo, Scott Wagner, Ken Pawluk, Keith Berndt, Rich Sieg, Dennis Rust and Jurgen Suhr. Mark Johnson was absent. 2. MINUTES APPROVED MOTION, passed Mr. Berndt moved and Mr. Sieg seconded that minutes from the December 20, 2004, meeting be approved as written. Motion carried. 3. KINDRED TRUCK ROUTE, Presentation on Davina road Mr. Berndt provided some background on the request from Kindred to pave the Kindred truck route. Bob Clarke, Kindred City Mayor, was present. He said the city would like to pave the gravel truck route. He said 70% of traffic comes from heavy trucks hauling to the City of Kindred and the gravel road is a constant source of maintenance. Also, dust is a problem for those living in the vicinity. The City is asking the county to help so they are eligible for state and federal funding to help pay construction costs. Arlen Blumer, resident of Kindred, was present. He said a new fertilizer plant will be built this year, which will create nine new jobs. Dennis Novacek, General Manager of Dakota Ag, said the fertilizer will be brought in by rail and hauled out by truck. Tracy Anderson, Lake Agassiz Regional Council, said because of the creation of new jobs, there may be $100,000 to $150,000 of CDBG funds available for this project. Mr. Berndt said the county receives $1 million in federal aid per year to cover 650 miles of road within Cass County. He said if the route is part of the federal aid system, some flexibility in relation to funding may be lost because there are more requirements that need to be met when federal money is involved. Mr. Wagner was concerned about county liability if the road is added to the county's system without any funds allocated toward the project. Mr. Clarke said the city is willing to maintain the one-mile stretch of road. Mr. Berndt discussed the Casselton elevator road project and said the county contributed $20,000 toward the project. The state provided $200,000 and the county acted as a pass through for the funds. Cities with populations of 5,000 or more, according to state guidelines, qualify for urban federal aid for road projects. The cities with over 5,000 in population typically take over ownership and maintenance of county highways as they annex land adjacent to county highways. His understanding of the correspondence he had reviewed was the Department of Transportation was not offering any new funding. The Department did indicate if the county was willing to place the road on the County Federal Aid System, the county could then apply some of its existing annual Federal Aid allotment toward the project. The county's current annual federal aid allotment is about $1 million. He also said if the Department is willing to provide additional funding above and separate from the county's federal aid allocation, the county may be willing to act as a pass through agent for the funds.