The Daily Dispatch

State funding cuts, employee losses and reductions to equipment funds are a few reasons behind Wilkin County's possible change to township road maintenance.

For decades, the county has been one of three in the state to manage township maintenance work. But Wilkin County commissioners will decide on Nov. 10 if that responsibility will be shifted back to townships by winter.

About 40 people gathered at the Breckenridge Senior Citizens Center on Wednesday to hear Tom Richels, highway engineer, explain the details in full. Significant cuts from the state - about $100,000 now compared to $1 million eight years ago - and an anticipated loss of $300,000 in gas tax money over the next three to five years has helped push the initiative forward.

"That's a lot of money," said Richels. "[But] the way I understand it, there's not going to be any increase to townships."

Township roads consume about half of the county's standard maintenance work, an estimated 350 township miles during the winter compared to 500 county miles. All of the extra work leads to wear and tear on equipment, the replacement of which is barely covered by the revenue generated from townships.

"Because we have so much work to do with the township and county roads, we can't save up enough money," he said.

Considerable cleanup after the 2009 flood also added to the burden, causing a significant delay to standard maintenance. Repeated flooding and hours of disaster repair are the top factors behind the push for township responsibility, which is why Richels is also asking each to be its own applicant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Of the $1.5 million bill for the flood, $800,000 was due to township repair.

Employee cuts over the past six years have also worn the present staff thin. Since October, the department lost three of the six employees and could not fill the spots due to lack of funding. Seven out of 19 employees have currently accrued so many vacation hours from working, they are beyond the maximum 240 hours allowed by the county.

"One employee has 312 hours," said Richels. "So that's quite a ways over, and then we can't just spare any employees trying to take vacation when we've got so much work to do."

Four area contractors are ready to tackle all townships, and residents who have already experienced the arrangement have been very satisfied, said Richels. At times, the highway department staff hasn't been able to snowplow outlying townships until the end of the day. But contractors will be more centrally located and likewise be able to reach townships more efficiently, said Richels.

"I feel that the townships may get better service from the contractors than us," he said.

Lyle Hovland, Wilkin County commission chairman, said he will accept public input until the board finalizes the decision in November.

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