County supervisors told that wet weather makes for messy gravel roads

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The agenda was light for Henry County Supervisors on Tuesday morning. Budget talks and a weekly update from Henry County engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, made up the bulk of the meeting.

First to present to the board was Hotchkiss with an update on road conditions within the county. Hotchkiss touched mainly on the fact that with the amount of rain Henry County has seen lately, the gravel roads especially are going to be a bit messy and possibly have a few potholes in certain spots. He cautioned drivers that while the county will be working hard to keep roads functioning as best as possible, work might be slow at times as weather could play a factor in the productivity of road maintenance.

?The weather conditions with things melting, then freezing overnight, makes for a lot of potholes and messy gravel roads. Our crews are trying stay on top of this and get some of those holes covered and things dried up, but it is difficult this time of year,? Hotchkiss said. ?We are doing the best we can and I appreciate the public?s patience and understanding as we try to get some of these things completed.?

Hotchkiss also announced the engineer?s office has officially received a new mechanic?s truck, which was delivered on Friday. Upon the completion of a few modifications, the truck will be fully equipped for county use.

?It is a very nice truck and our mechanics are very happy to have a truck they can use,? said Hotchkiss. ?One new feature that we have on this particular truck is a hoist so we can do more service projects in the fields such as moving and changing tires on a vehicle. There are running boards that need to be put on, but it should be in use by our crew very soon.?

Last on the agenda were budget presentations from Henry County recorder, Shirley Wandling; and IT director and safety director, Derek Wellington.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Jan. 28, at 9 a.m., inside the Henry County Courthouse. All meetings are open to the public.