A meeting with township representatives to discuss the county road revocation policy went well, although it yielded some concerns from the townships, according to Highway Engineer Joel Ulring.
"They appeared very open-minded," he told commissioners about the Nov. 26 meeting.
Township concerns about the policy included not having a large enough tax base to levy and the possibility that there aren't enough well-trained or well-equipped private contractors to take care of roads, Ulring said.
Another concern involved a 5 percent apportionment from the state transportation fund that township roads are eligible for, he said. The township representatives said the apportionment is not constitutionally dedicated and is not a dependable longterm revenue source. He will have to research that, he said.
The biggest point he made with the townships was the $350 per mile gas tax funding township roads receive that county roads are not eligible to receive, he said. However, township representatives said that money is not enough to cover maintenance costs and additional funds will have to be levied, Ulring said.
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Another concern related to snowplowing. Some townships said it takes them a day to plow all of the roads they have now, Ulring said.
People who live in the country used to primarily be farmers, he said. It didn't matter as much how long it took to plow the roads.
"Now rural people work in town," Ulring said. "[They] need to get to work."
Overall, the consensus of the meeting was more discussion is needed and townships need to accept the responsibility for some county roads, Ulring said.
The county needs to turn over what roads it can and keep looking into these issues, he said. He will continue meeting individually with township boards during the next several months.
"We need to work together to resolve these issues and it takes time," Ulring said.
