04-19-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

Comm. Minutes--April 19, 1993 1018 summer not to pave this road because of lack of funds, other priorities, and because the road doesn't meet established criteria for paving of gravel roads. According to Mr. Berndt, his predecessor anticipated using Federal Aid funds to pave the road, and local residents expected that it would be paved. Mr. Berndt outlined four possible options, and he favors option #1 which consists of minor reshaping of the sides of the road to improve drainage of the road itself and adding gravel, working within the existing 40 feet of right of way, for an estimated cost of $60,000. Don Plath, Chairman of the Davenport Township Board of Supervisors, presented a written list of concerns of the people using County Road 16, along with a copy of a letter from the County Road Department to the Davenport Township Clerk dated April 7, 1992, regarding proposed improvements. He said the delegation present today consists of representatives from the fire department, school district, local businessmen, farmers, mail carrier and other township officials. Carl Grindberg reviewed the list of concerns distributed by Mr. Plath. He said the majority of people who have been attending meetings in the Davenport area are not in favor of option #1 proposed by the County Engineer. He said they want nothing short of regrading the road, to include improving the side slopes and ditches and widening the road to the appropriate standard for future paving, even if the road is never paved. Mr. Ness said he noticed there is a drainage problem along this road. Mr. Berndt said there are two issues of drainage, one being drainage of the road itself and the second being drainage of the ditch. Mrs. Toussaint asked Mr. Berndt if his first option is within county policy, and he said it is. He said option #1 does not address drainage of the ditch, but it would improve the road drainage. One of the County's criteria for paving roads is that the average daily traffic be a minimum of 400 vehicles per day, either currently or in the next 5 years. Mr. Risher said the last traffic count on this road is 200 vehicles per day. Mr. Wieland expressed concern about the drainage. Virgil Hans said there are field dikes in the 3rd and 4th miles because the fields would be under water every spring if they weren't there. Mr. Wieland asked about project costs. Mr. Berndt said he could fund option #1 within the current Road Department budget. Option #2 could also be funded this year but would deplete any contingency funds on other projects. Mr. Eckert favored the County Engineer's second option instead of option #1, saying the Davenport area deserves some improvements. He thinks it is poor judgement on the part of the county commission if they do not fund improvements on this county road when $100,000 was recently allocated to help the City of Fargo with a road project. He said the traffic count on the Davenport road is about 6 years old.