The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday morning at the Polk County Government Center and heard from Polk County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders about several projects and the county’s five-year transportation project plan.
MAINTENANCE APPROVED
The Polk County Board officially gave the nod to start maintenance on County Ditch 37 and County Ditch 41. There will be minor cleaning done to the ditches, and side culverts will be added.
FIVE YEAR PLAN
Sanders built a five-year plan dating to 2028 that gives an estimate on each project as well as funding the projects. “This five-year plan includes funding our county roads, with our normal county state highway funding, and also with the local option sales tax,” said Sanders. “Right now, our local option sales tax is 0.25%, and what I’m proposing is raising it to 0.5%, so Polk County board will need to make that decision by the end of July so that the state can start collecting the 0.5% starting January 1”.
COUNTY ROAD 6
Sanders stated that Burlington Northern reviewed their crossing on County Road 6 in Fosston. Currently, there are concrete planks that are deteriorating, and they need to be replaced according to Sanders, “Per statute, we’re required to help pay for that replacement, we’re paying 50% of the cost, and they are paying 50% of the cost or else it will cost us $1,000 per foot.”
It will cost approximately $112,000 to replace the planking on County Road 6. There will be another meeting with the Polk County commissioners and finalizations of the projects on June 28.
