Rice County’s Wheeling Township to Get Back a Road

Rice County highway engineer Dennis Luebbe went before the Rice County Board of Commissioners during a work session today asking for approval of the transfer of a road to Wheeling Township.

Luebbe told commissioners the county highway department is in charge of maintaining a 431-mile system - 282 miles are state aid routes, and 149 miles are county roads. He said all the construction and maintenance of the county roads are funded fully by local property taxes.

Rice County has 79 miles of gravel roadways, and County Road 87 is part of that system.

Luebbe said that since 2006 his department has contracted with Wheeling Township to provide routine snow removal and summer surface maintenance services.

The proposal is to turn back County Road 87 to Wheeling Township and calls for the county to pay the township $10,862.26, which is equivalent to two years of maintenance expenses on the road.

Work to resurface the three-mile segment, with an estimated cost of $25,000, and complete the normal culvert replacement has begun along the route.

State statutes require the Board of Commissioners to conduct a public hearing on the proposed turn back, and that hearing must be held in Wheeling Township.

Luebbe told commissioners the Wheeling Township Board of Supervisors has offered to host the public hearing at 7:30PM on August 8.

Commissioners will officially set that date for the public hearing during their regular board meeting next Tuesday, June 28.

Luebbe will be our guest on the KDHL AM Minnesota program Wednesday, June 22, to discuss this and a couple of other issues facing his department. I hope you can tune in at 9:30AM and be informed about what's happening in Rice County.