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Road condition complaints aired, commissioners pledge action

A Sidney High School student attended a Cheyenne County Commissioners meeting on Monday to raise concerns about the condition of some roads in the county.

Kade Price told the commissioners his family has been living in Cheyenne County for 25 years. A few weeks ago, he posted online about the condition of County Road 8.

“I just wanted to raise some awareness on county roads and county roads south of town,” he said.

County Road 8 is highly travelled, he said, by farmers, ranchers and truck drivers.

“There aren’t many options other than Road 8,” he said. “In the last few months – probably in the last couple years – since the road has been rough, a lot of people have had problems with their vehicles.”

He asked the commissioners if there was a maintenance plan for roads in the county and if the U.S. Air Force contributed funds for the upkeep of roads it uses for transportation.

Commission chairman Darrell Johnson agreed County Road 8 is in bad shape and directed the questions to county highway superintendent Tom Noel.

Noel explained his department does the best it can, but funding is contingent upon what the county has available.

“Every year, we put in for money and the board has to decide whether we can do it,” he said.

The price for overlaying the road with 2 inches of asphalt is approximately $176,000 per mile, Noel explained. And while the county has 500 tons of material that can be used to patch roads, the temperatures have to be warmer for it to be applied, he said.

While the department maintains a road plan, Noel said, the Air Force does not pay the county to maintain paved roads.

Other county residents who also attended the meeting said there are numerous roads that are not well maintained.

Jeff White, who is the transportation director for Peetz Plateau School District in Colorado, questioned the practices and techniques used by the county highway department.

“When they just pull the soil onto the shoulder and then it rains like heck, it gets slick,” he said. “I wonder why we do the practices that we do.”

Commissioner Philip Sanders said the county is in the trial phase of attaching GPS devices to maintenance vehicles to better document when roads are serviced.

The commissioners said they agreed the state of many county roads needs to be improved and they would continue to work toward that.

“Please be patient,” Sanders said. “I assure you we will do as much as we can do. Let’s work together.”

Also at the meeting:

• Jason Petik, CEO of Sidney Regional Medical Center, attended the meeting to answer questions regarding the co-pay and deductible payment procedure for county employees.

“When someone comes into the clinic, the process is the same across the board,” he said.

If a patient has a co-pay, they will only pay their co-pay amount. If a patient has a high deductible plan, they will collect an average cost of an office visit.

He said options are available for patients who are unable to pay the upfront costs, including an application for charity care or a loan. The loan application can be filled out at the clinic or hospital and, if paid back in six months, will not include interest.

“I think the big kicker is we’re asking for money upfront instead of on the backside,” he explained of the recent policy change.

• A conditional use permit was approved for the stockpiling of rubbilzed concrete pavement and crushing operations south of Interstate 80 in Sidney, near the airport. Jay Sporer said his company had received a contract to remove existing concrete from I-80 during reconstruction. Storm water and fuel prevention plans have already been submitted to the state and an air permit has been applied for, he said.

The concrete will be crushed down to 2 inch material and reused on commercial construction sites, he said.

With no public comments, the commissioners unanimously approved the conditional use permit.

• An application from Pit Acres for a conditional use permit for gravel mining, crushing and washing, as well as asphalt and concrete batch plans, was tabled.

After a discussion with representatives of the company and nearby landowners, the commissioners opted to revisit the application during their next meeting.

In recent months, Pit Acres received approval to conduct similar operations on another section of nearby land. The land area discussed Monday is the site where a previous company – with many of the same personnel as Pit Acres – was ordered by the Cheyenne District Court to cease operations gravel mining operations because it lacked proper permits.

• The next Cheyenne County Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 4 at 8:30 a.m. in the Cheyenne County Courthouse building.

 

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