MONDAY DECEMBER 22 MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISIONERS MEETING

Mitchell County Commissioners

Monday, December 22, 2014

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regularly scheduled business meeting on Monday morning, December twenty-second, two thousand fourteen. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.

Fifty-eight days. That was the total number of days the Beloit Sonic was recently not open for business. The Sonic closed for business one night and then the entire structure, canopy and foundation was demolished and then a new building, canopies and foundation were built from the ground up and the business reopened to customers in fifty-eight days. That would seem to be a very impressive piece of construction.

Bridges were the major topic of discussion at the Commissioner’s meeting. By law, all bridges must be inspected every two years. There are two hundred twenty seven bridges in Mitchell County that have been contracted to the Schwab-Eaton Engineering Firm for structural review. Two hundred eleven of these bridges require only brief inquiry. Schwab Eaton charges eighty dollars each to examine them which totals seventeen thousand, four hundred forty dollars.

Nine of these bridges are classified as critical fracture bridges. A more tedious and time consuming examination of these bridges is necessary to insure their structural integrity. These carry an inspection fee of nineteen hundred dollars each for a total of seventeen thousand, one hundred dollars.

Finally, the Causeway Bridge and the Fisherman’s Bridge are structures that require extensive up-close and detailed investigation. A specialized unit, known as a Snooper Truck, has been developed by a private company to provide such examination of bridges all across the state. This premium service comes with a premium price tag. The company charges a set up fee just to move and set up shop at a bridge of ten thousand dollars. Then there is the fee for doing the work. According to Larry Emerson, Public Works Superintendent, Russell County recently had seven bridges examined by the Snooper Truck and the fee was forty thousand dollars. Obviously bridge examination is a high ticket item but undoubtedly not as high a bridge failure.

Emerson did say that the State of Kansas is organizing a consortium of counties within a geographic area with the hopes that cost savings can occur by local counties sharing some of the costs.

Emerson presented a contract to the commissioners for their consideration. The contract was to engage Schwab-Eaton to draw up the construction specifications and building plans for the bridge to be built near the Brian Jordan place. Schwab-Eaton will then let the bids and oversee the construction. The fee for the engineering work is not to exceed thirty thousand dollars.

Heather Hartman, Economic Development Specialist, reported she has been busy assisting local businesses with their business plans. The emphasis for new businesses is to develop a business plan and then to implement the plan. For existing businesses, the emphasis is on refining their existing plan.

Melinda Latham, Mitchell County Appraiser, met with the Commissioners in a ten minute executive session to discuss pending litigation. No decisions were made.

The Commissioners will not meet on Monday, December twenty-ninth. They will combine their regular business meeting with a previously scheduled meeting on Wednesday, December thirty-first.

Having conducted all of the business before them the Commissioners adjourned the meeting.

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Beloit, KS 67420, USA