Commissioners address routine agenda in Friday meeting

Howard County Commissioners conducted business at what County Judge Kathryn Wiseman dubbed a “special regular meeting” at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

“The reason we changed it from Monday the 28th is because the County Auditor, the County Treasurer, the County Clerk and the County Judge are all going to be gone Monday,” Wiseman said at the start of the meeting. “So we changed it. We brought it up to Friday.”

The meeting came in the midst of a budget workshop session which started at 1:30 Friday, then recommenced once the Commissioner’s Court session ended.

During the meeting, Road Engineer Brian Klinksiek requested the purchase of a truckload of MC 30 roadway bitumen. Klinksiek said it has been several years since the county Road and Bridge Department purchased a load of the road construction material.

“We used up the last of it recently on work in Precinct 3. The price will be $2.70 cents a gallon, plus a $75 pump fee. It should range in price between $13,500 and about $17,700, depending on the number of gallons in the load, and we will put it in our transport trailer the way we always do.”

In response to a question from Commissioner John Cline (District 4), Klinksiek confirmed that money for the purchase had been included in the annual budget. Commissioners approved the purchase unanimously.

Klinksiek also requested the purchase of a load of roadway emulsion.

“We will also need a load of emulsion because we have been working on shoulder widening,” Klinksiek said. “This is at the price that was approved in October, and I do have money budgeted for it.” Commissioners also approved purchase of the emulsion unanimously.

Klinksiek reported that the Road Department is currently working on widening the shoulders of County Roads 9, 46 and 11 in Precinct 1.

“We have completed the shoulder widening along Cauble and 18 in Precinct 3,” he said. “We have completed as much as we had material for to apply the MC 30 on top of the wrap, and when the load you just approved comes in, we will complete that work.”