2018 becomes the summer of bridges

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Bridge work will fill this summer’s construction season in Moody County, as one bridge repair is completed and others will soon be underway.

The Christenson bridge northwest of Flandreau was repaired and was reopened May 8 with a cost of $51,289, said Marc Blum, highway superintendent. The bridge still has load limits, however.

“Once we get the Ward Road open and get Gullickson’s (bridge) fixed up, I think it’s going to take a lot of pressure off it,” he said of the Christenson bridge.

Replacement work on the failed Ward Road bridge will start after Memorial Day, Blum said. The bid from Robert R. Schroeder Construction of Minnesota came in lower than the county anticipated. The total cost of replacing the bridge will be $1.8 million, compared with the $2.2 million originally estimated, Blum said.

From those projected numbers, the county should save about $300,000, he said. “It’ll (the cost will) be right around $600,000.” The state will pay the remainder up to $1.2 million. The bridge work is expected to be completed by Nov. 9.

Work on the Doyle bridge east of Flandreau will cost the county $66,274 for its portion of the $331,105 bill. Dakota Contracting Corp. of Sioux Falls was the low bidder on the box culvert with work beginning in June.

In the middle of June, contractors will start work on the Gullickson bridge, also northwest of Flandreau, and plan on replacing the Teal bridge at that time, Blum said.

In other county business:

  • Winter Inc. has a conditional use permit to set up a temporary cement plant at the Wildwood Dairy location to start building the facility south of Egan.

Under the dairy’s road haul permit, Ryan Winter with Winter Inc. said it is in the company’s best interest to make sure it doesn’t tear up the road because that would be hard on its trucks. “It doesn’t help us going down soft roads. It just tears up our trucks, too,” he said. “We try and haul on drier days.”

Having the plant on location will mean fewer trips up and down the half mile of gravel. Under the dairy’s road haul agreement, the dairy is responsible for dust control and maintaining the road in the condition it was in when the project is started.

Paul Antoine with Grovena Township said the road will need attention while it is used. The company, township and others will meet to inspect the road condition before the plant is put in place.

Once trucks leave the hard-surface county road 9A, they are required to not exceed 35 miles an hour on gravel.

The conditional use was approved unanimously. Winter said it will be completed with the cement pad for the dairy by winter.

  • The county will ask for sealed bids for sale of an Egan property that was claimed after the previous owner failed to pay taxes for a number of years. The county and town of Egan have removed all taxes and fees associated with the property, and it will be sold on the condition that a condemned trailer house located there be removed.

The county attempted to sell the property once before but there was a lack of interest because unpaid fees were attached to it. The bids will be opened June 7.

  • The commission approved $1,200 to upgrade the 911 recorder in the county in preparation for state-required changes.

The state is getting ready to implement the Emergency Service Internet Protocol Network, which will require 911 calls come back from the state to the recorder in a digital format, said Terry Albers with Moody County emergency management.

While the upgrade will cost now, next year the county should save $4,600, he said.

  • The commission approved allowing the county to hire local nurses as part-time county employees to have staffing for ambulance transfers to Sioux Falls. Nurses will be paid $25 an hour while they are working for the county.

“Transfers are worth it for us,” said Marty Skroch, county human resources director and commission assistant. If Moody County can’t staff those transfers, other ambulances in the area take the calls and get those payments. The transfers also can happen more quickly if they are handled locally, he said.

  • Commissioners didn’t take action on a request to donate an unspecified amount of money to the Flandreau City Band, which didn’t receive all of its city funding this year and is short money for its budget. The band plays in parades throughout the county, but commissioners said citizens likely would complain about spending tax dollars that way.

County government is for essential services, said Rick Veldkamp, commissioner. “I don’t think it fits under what the taxpayers expect.”