County engineer Wade Weiss reported at the county supervisors Nov. 2 meeting that it looks “highly unlikely” that paving of County Road P-46 south of County Road E-26 (“the Dana pavement”) will be completed before winter. Weiss said he told the contractor last week that some sort of surface material needed to be put down. He called it a “roly-poly mess” since the contractor crushed the surface that was there. “They’ve assured me their intention was to pave it, but at this point I don’t believe anything I hear,” Weiss said.
He said the county will pay for shoulder rock and have the contractor put it on the roadway. He said the contractor will have to take care of snow removal, even if it’s on Christmas Day or weekends. He said any time county crews go out, whoever the contractor uses will also need to go out.
Weiss also voiced his concerns about road use agreements with companies involved in repowering wind turbines. He is concerned the weight will damage roads, and he wants to be sure contractors know they’re responsible for any damage done. He referenced the county’s ordinance concerning CO2 pipelines, which requires contractors to have an inspector on site.
The zoning ordinance dealing with repowering names the county engineer as the person to watch the work and contact contractors about damage to roads. “I don’t work for them. We need to be sure they understand that. We need a designated representative,” Weiss told the supervisors. “They come in here and say they’ll reimburse me for my cost, but I don’t care about wind turbines personally, and for me to spend all my time watching what they’re doing is a real misuse of my time.” The supervisors approved the second reading of amendments to the zoning ordinance dealing with repowering wind turbines. They waived the third reading and approved the final amendments.
