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Keith County approves $9,890 purchase of heavier-duty culvert after landowner concern
Summary
After the highway superintendent acknowledged an ordering oversight that would affect a private cattle crossing, the board voted to buy a heavier-gauge 72-inch culvert for $9,890 rather than pay a 50% restocking fee and risk damaging the landowner’s crossing.
The Keith County Board of Commissioners authorized the purchase of a heavier-duty culvert after Highway Superintendent Thomas Wilder told the board that a previously ordered culvert would not preserve a private cattle crossing as the landowner expected.
Wilder said the culvert originally ordered followed the hydraulic study recommendation but that the landowner had purchased and surveyed the property to preserve a cattle crossing. "This is my mistake," Wilder told commissioners, saying he should have met the landowner earlier. He said the county could pay a 50% restocking fee if it returned the specially ordered pipe, and recommended buying a thicker-walled, 72-inch equivalent culvert from Husker Steel priced at $9,890.
A motion to purchase the heavier-duty culvert was made by Schroeder and seconded by Kraske; the motion passed on a roll call vote with the board voting in favor. Commissioners said they expected to find other county uses for the specially ordered item if not immediately needed.
The superintendent and commissioners discussed logistics, installation and the need for additional dirt work outside the right-of-way to retain the cattle crossing's flow line. Wilder said the county would use the landowner’s offered dirt for fill and minimize extra cost beyond the culvert purchase. No amendment to the purchase amount was proposed.
Next steps: staff will proceed with the purchase and schedule installation and associated dirt work; the board recorded the action in the minutes and closed the item.
