BROKEN BOW – The Custer County Board of Supervisors held its final meeting of February on Tuesday at 9 a.m. Only Chairman Barry Fox was absent, leaving Vice Chairman Lynn Longmore in charge of the meeting.
The minutes, mail, and committee reports were approved, and the quarterly recycling report was delivered by recycling manager Kelly Flynn. The one- and six-year highway plan was revisited and approved unanimously; Supervisor and Roads Committee member Dwain Bryner said that witnessing the sheer number of road miles to be repaired should be reason enough to approve the plan as written.
“We drove about 400 miles of road and looked it over; my feeling, and I think others would agree, is that we need to spend some money on the roads we’re currently working on, get them completed, into better shape, and then take a look at where we’re headed from there.”
In entering the Board of Equalization, the supervisors returned to the permissive exemption application for the Angela Foundation. It was unanimously rejected on the grounds that the foundation’s current use of the building does not align with its purpose; the building currently has two tenants, a local business and an individual using the space to house belongings.
The supervisors discussed whether to buy or lease a road reclaimer; the price tag for such equipment could run anywhere from $300,000 to $700,000, which although budgeted for, would require a special purchase from the county. County Highway Department head Chris Jacobsen stressed the need for a decision in the face of the upcoming mountain of roadwork to be done for a season fast approaching.
“We’ve got a lot that we’ve done, but a lot that we need to go back and re-do. It goes down Ryno, it goes down Sumner, it goes down East Pressey; we’ve got plenty to do. I don’t care if it takes us into the summer; I want to get that out of the way.”
Several options were discussed, including a lease-to-own option, though nothing was officially decided. The next step, a collaborative effort between the County Highway Department and the board, was anticipated to be reached in the coming week.
The easement agreement and memorandum between BNSF and the county regarding the Anselmo railroad crossing was approved, however, due to Supervisor Fox’s absence, his signature could not be acquired to finalize the agreement.
The board passed a resolution declaring several 300 to 500-gallon fuel tanks as surplus property, which passed unanimously. The employee handbook was presented before the board as well in an effort to equalize county departments’ rates of sick and vacation time accrual across hours worked; no action was taken as the proposal was returned to the handbook committee so that they might present tangible numbers.
The meeting adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
