County engineer seeks $8,000 share for SS4A grant application; proposes R‑74 shoulder and rumble project as lead candidate

Scott (County Engineer) updated the board on building progress at the county shop and on a potential federal safety grant opportunity.

On the infrastructure side, Scott reported construction progress at the new county facility (spray‑foam walls, sand/oil separator and floor pours underway). He then described a statewide consultant effort to prepare county safety action plans and the June deadline to submit SS4A grant applications.

Scott said a group of neighboring counties were preparing a joint SS4A application. To participate, the consultant requested an $8,000 contribution from each participating county to prepare the joint application (the consultant’s total fee for several counties was described as about $40,000). The program requires a local match (discussed as approximately 20% of the project). For the multi‑county application under discussion the total project cost referenced during the meeting was on the order of $1.0–1.1 million across participating counties; the county’s share of the local match discussed was about $200,000 for Winnebago within that estimate.

Scott described the application’s most competitive candidate project for Winnebago County as adding 2‑foot paved shoulders with rumble strips on County Road R‑74 from the Lake Mills area south toward Highway 838 (including joining existing widened shoulders on curves). He said the shoulders would include rumble strips and that the design would consider pavement thickness and drainage to avoid water‑trapping problems seen on some other projects. The engineer noted safety benefits, tradeoffs with pavement life and the need for appropriate base and surface thicknesses.

Board members agreed the project concept was worthy and asked staff to sign an agreement to move the consultant and application work forward. Scott said the application deadline was in late June (discussed in meeting as around June 26) and he expected the county to sign an agreement and contribute the $8,000 to the joint application. He noted that the grant program is federal (SS4A) and that awards are competitive; there is a risk the application might not be funded but the board agreed the potential to receive approximately $800,000 to $900,000 in federal funds made the contribution worthwhile.

Separately in the engineer update, Scott reported he was evaluating salt‑shed designs and noted options including wood‑lined bunkers or a full building; staff are seeking a durable, cost‑effective approach that would preserve clearance to handle trucks and loaders.