Kris Miller
Hiawatha World
The Brown County commissioners met on Friday, Feb. 28 and Monday, March 3 to discuss and approve various topics.
Road reclamation project
On Feb. 28, The Brown County commissioners voted on Friday to approve moving forward with a road reclamation project for 270th Street.
The commissioners also voted to approve a contract with Marysville-based Hall Brothers, Inc. for the project; a two inch asphalt overlay was chosen over a three inch overlay and without any add-on for the asphalt on the intersection approaches with the estimated County portion being $497,050.
The commissioners also spoke with Assistant Foreman Doug Bletscher to discuss a possible purchase of a Bomag roller from Knudson Construction for $37,000. Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill said that since the amount was over $5,000, the county would need to follow its Informal Solicitation Policy. Bletscher would bring in three other bids for similar machines.
Bids for Noxious Weed building additions
The commissioners spoke with Brown County Landfill Director Don Pounds about the topic of solid waste. Pounds brought a map about the work that would need to be done. After further discussion, the commissioners voted to approve releasing bids for a Noxious Weed building addition and concrete. The work would consist of concrete pads and constructing an addition to the current building located at 1664 190th Street in Hiawatha. The bids for this work opened on Tuesday and are accepted until April 11 at no later than 4 p.m.; the bids will be opened on April 14 at 9 a.m. in the Brown County Commissioners Room. More information can be found by visiting the Brown County website under the “Bids” section.
Pounds also spoke with the commissioners about the Household Hazardous Waste Contract. He suggested that county resources should be put more into recycling as opposed to dealing with hazardous waste. After some discussion, Commissioner Lucas Heinen stated that managing hazardous waste would not be making any money for the county. Pounds included that paint and lithium batteries would still be taken but liquid waste would not be transported. In the end, all three commissioners voted to discontinue the Household Hazardous Waste Contract.
Other items of discussion:
• The commissioners voted on Feb. 28 to approve an occupational license for Sac & Fox Casino.
• Also on Feb. 28, all three commissioners voted to approve the Washington Township Annual Report.
• The commissioners were also presented with additional information from the Kansas Natural Resource Coalition on Feb. 28.
