Deb Mohr, whose son Don Daniel was killed last month on County Road E-53 at County Road P-14 last month, asked the county supervisors to consider placing a four-way stop sign at that intersection.
With her at the supervisors’ Sept. 10 meeting were Stan and Sandy Gibson of Scranton. Stan Gibson said northbound drivers on P-14 can’t see traffic coming from the east on E-53 until they’re nearly into the intersection. “That’s a bad corner. Even the highway patrol says it’s a bad corner,” Gibson said.
Board of supervisors chair John Muir agreed that it’s difficult to see at that intersection. He asked county engineer Wade Weiss what could be done short of putting in a four-way stop. Weiss said he’d look into it further, that doing a study is needed before putting in a four-way stop, and that the manual for traffic control devices is very clear on what can be done.
The property owner at the southeast corner of the intersection has a hedge that several motorists say adds to the visibility problem. Mohr said she’s talked to the property owner who said he would trim it back, but he hasn’t done it yet. The hedge is not in the right-of-way, but Muir said he’d also talk to the property owner.
Muir said the county will do what it can to alert east-west drivers to be cautious at that intersection.
On a different matter, engineer Weiss reported that negotiations are completed with MidAmerican Energy about reimbursement for damage done to county roads last summer during the construction of Phase 1 of the Beaver Creek Wind Park. The company agreed to pay $683,367 in addition to $275,000 paid a year ago.
Weiss has mentioned the negotiations often, every time saying that MidAmerican has been good to work with, but that it was a lengthy and detailed process to get through.
After last summer’s experience, damage to roads during Phase 2 construction has been considerably less, Weiss reported.
Jefferson city administrator Mike Palmer had a visual aid for his monthly update. He brought with him one of the 6-foot wayfinding signs that will soon be placed around Jefferson. The sign is nearly 6 feet tall and heavy enough that it can’t be moved easily by one person.
He said directional signs to the current high school will be posted and then be re-done in two years when the new high school is complete.
About the school, Palmer reported the city staff is working with the school’s architects on drainage at the school site, and there have been discussions about walking routes to the school.
He reported that upstairs windows are being replaced on the city-owned building at 200 E. State St; that the false front is being removed and masonry repaired on the former Pizza Ranch; and that the building across the street from Pizza Ranch has a new floor and the front glass will soon be installed.
