Cass County approves memorandum with Applied Digital for highway turn-lane work, pending sheriff review

The Cass County Commission on Sept. 22 approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Applied Digital to build turn lanes and related intersection work on County Road 22 and County Road 81 to support construction and eventual operations for a planned Applied Digital campus in the Harwood area.

The MOA, described to the commission by County Highway Engineer Kyle Ochey, assigns design, construction and testing costs to Applied Digital and requires the company to keep county roadways free of construction debris. "There'll be no cost to Cass County with any of the construction or design or testing that goes along with constructing these turn lanes at both locations," Ochey said.

Commissioners and company representatives said the immediate need is to handle the large volume of construction traffic — including gravel trucks and more than 700 construction workers at peak — and to provide safer turning movements at two intersections. Applied Digital Senior Construction Manager Keith Lear told the commission the primary operational…