Visitors present Wauneta, Champion road project options to commissioners

Chase County Commissioners Jacci Brown, Duane Dinnel and Dennis Kunnemann continue to look for the right solutions for road projects at Wauneta and Champion.
The board hosted Toney Krajewski and Steve Peck at the Oct. 26 meeting. Peck showed a video of the product Saflea for the commissioners to consider.
At $55,000 to $60,000 per mile, the commissioners are considering using it on the Wauneta and Champion road projects.
The waterproof membrane will not stop cracking in the roads, but will help the problem. Peck said Simon Construction suggests leveling roads before applying Saflea.
Jeff Tidyman and Josh Shaich with Engineering International were at the meeting after Krajewski and Peck left.
The pair presented their plans for the road, but didn’t include the Saflea product.
For the Champion road, Brown said she’d rather do milling, $10,000 per mile, as opposed to leveling, $120,000 per mile.
Dinnel said he’d rather see the road leveled then Saflea applied. Tidyman would rather see the road milled down to asphalt to get rid of the seal that has been applied over the years.
With its clay base, Wauneta’s asphalt is not as thick as Champion, which has more sandy soil. Leveling may be possible  for the Wauneta road.
In both cases, the commissioners would like to see the Saflea mat applied with a three inch asphalt layer on top. The three-inch overlay is estimated to be $360,000 per mile.
How to bid the projects was a concern. The group discussed bids for leveling each, milling each or leveling one and milling the other. Tidyman was concerned about the variety of bids the county may receive.
The commissioners would like the projects to come in under $4 million total.
Tidyman also presented Engineering International’s $200,000 contract to oversee the project. The board did not act on the contract.
Other business
Heidi Wheeler, assistant director with Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department, presented the SWNPHD annual review. Wheeler said COVID has put many programs on hold.
The commissioners opened bids for aluminum and steel scrap. Chuck Vette won the aluminum bid for 30 cents per pound and Lamar Diesel and Irrigation won the steel bid for $50 per ton.
Tori Otzel, roads secretary and transit and zoning administrator, presented new snow removal policy and routes as suggested by NIRMA. All was approved by the commissioners.
The next meeting of the commissioners will be Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the courthouse.
Redistricting
Chase County Clerk Debbie Clark said her office is going through the new census numbers to determine if the county will need new districts.
Clark said the process needs to be completed by Dec. 31, but she’s hopeful they will be done by Dec. 1.
If population changes are less than 10%, no district changes will be made.