Belzer hopes for rain to aid in blading county roads

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

In order for the Henry County?s gravel roads to be properly bladed before winter, the county needs a lot more rain, according to County Engineer Bill Belzer.

?We?re needing some rain for our roads desperately,? said Belzer during his weekly meeting with the board of supervisors on Tuesday morning.

Although the county received some rain on Monday, Belzer said it was not enough.

?It?s just so bone dry out there, an inch of rain is not going to allow us to blade our roads,? said Belzer. He said at one site where crews were working there was not any mud to be found after the rain.

In updating the supervisors on the road work being completed around the county, Belzer reported that crews are about 80 percent done with the box culvert installation on Lexington Avenue and two-thirds done with the project on Fremont Avenue. He estimated there were only a couple of weeks of work left on that project.

He also reported that the bridge project on 312th Street east of New London Road is basically completed.

?It?s not officially open because it has not been blessed by the DOT, but people are driving over it,? said Belzer.

Belzer also informed the supervisors that he may be deducting one mile of road ? County Road H50, located east of New London ? from the county?s farm to market road system.

The reason this road would be deducted is because Des Moines County is looking to remove the road from its system in order to add five to six miles of Old Highway 34 to its system. There is a limit to how many miles statewide can be farm to market roads, so in order to add miles, the county would have to deduct miles.

Although it is Des Moines County that is initiating this change, it also affects Henry County because County Road H50 must connect to another farm to market road; it cannot just dead end at the county line.

Removing this road from the farm to market road system would require a resolution from Des Moines County which would then go to the Farm to Market Board. It would also need approval from Henry County.

In other business, the supervisors approved a website maintenance agreement with Inukshuk Technologies for an annual maintenance fee of $1,800.

According to County Auditor Shelly Barber, agreement has been in place for several years. Inukshuk Technologies uploads the county?s minutes and agendas to the county?s website, amounting to about two hours of work a month.

This agreement is in place through Oct. 1, 2012.

The board of supervisors will be holding a community meeting at Wayland City Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20.