Brown County debates $1.7 million Seventieth Street rehabilitation project; awards RS‑1H+ fuel contract to Vance Brothers

Brown County commissioners spent more than two hours on a contested road rehabilitation package for Seventieth Street (the 270th Street project), weighing contractor bids, add‑on options and whether parts of the work could be performed by county crews to reduce the county share of cost.

Project scope and bids An engineer-backed base bid called for reclamation and a multi-inch asphalt overlay with additional optional items including intersection aprons and widened gravel shoulders. The full base bid plus three add‑on items as presented to the board totaled roughly $1.7 million; the State’s grant contribution listed in meeting materials covered about $957,000, leaving the county’s share in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. Commissioners and staff discussed the budgetary implications at length.

Key tradeoffs discussed Commissioners and road staff examined several ways to reduce county expense while preserving pavement life. Options discussed included: - Proceeding with the contractor’s full, turnkey scope (reclamation and 3 inches of new asphalt). That approach would maximize engineered control but carry a larger county share. - Reducing the final overlay from a 3‑inch to a 2‑inch asphalt lift to save roughly $270,000; engineers warned that reduction would shorten the road’s projected service life (engineer estimate cited 4–6 fewer years of service life). - Contracting the intersection aprons and shoulder/gravel work to the contractor versus performing ditch cleaning, grading and gravel shoulder placement with county crews as cost‑saving measures.

Road foremen, contractors and equipment options Road staff and contractors discussed technical details — including use of RS‑1 polymerized road oils, edge‑widening equipment and “widener” attachments that can be mounted to skid steers or tractors to place shoulder gravel. A county road representative (Adam Antsborough) explained differences between standard RS‑1 products and the RS‑1 HP/“plus” polymerized formulas and said polymer-modified products can improve aggregate adhesion and reduce stone loss but require more attention to application and equipment cleaning.

Fuel and road material procurement As part of the road agenda, commissioners opened fuel bids and awarded the RS‑1H+ delivered fuel contract to Vance Brothers (bid of $2.15 per gallon delivered for their RS‑1 H plus product). That motion was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Next steps and timeline Commissioners did not finalize the Seventieth Street contract at the meeting. They agreed to pursue a short follow‑up: staff will confirm whether the contractor can reduce the asphalt depth via a change order (and how that affects the price), and road foremen will review ditch‑cleaning and grading feasibility to determine what the county can realistically perform before construction starts. A decision on accepting the full contract, with any selected add‑ons or reductions, was scheduled for a subsequent meeting.

Votes at a glance (selected) • Motion: Award RS‑1 H plus delivered fuel bid to Vance Brothers at $2.15 per gallon. Mover: not specified. Second: not specified. Outcome: approved by voice vote. • Motion: Accept permit 2502 (Rex Lockwood) for road tube work. Outcome: approved by voice vote.

Context and consequences Commissioners emphasized the tension between saving up‑front dollars and preserving long‑term pavement life. Several members urged caution about cutting engineered pavement depth because shorter life will increase long‑term maintenance costs. Road staff asked for time to assess whether ditch cleaning, culvert replacement and shoulder preparation could be completed by county crews to reduce contract add‑ons and lower the county's immediate cash outlay.

The board scheduled a decision on the road contract for a later meeting after follow‑up from county road staff and the project engineer.