Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Fee topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners weigh per-well, per-mile road impact fees; consultants propose options from $27,900 to $18,400
Summary
In a work session, county staff and consultants presented a transportation mitigation fee for oil-and-gas activity that ranged from an initial engineering estimate of $40,600 per well per mile down to $27,900 after a statistical adjustment; additional options (county covering some items and using overlays for half of roads) could lower the figure to about $23,000 or $18,400 per well per mile.
Duchesne County commissioners heard a technical briefing Oct. 7 on a proposed transportation mitigation fee to recover industry road impacts from oil-and-gas development. Jones & DeMille and county engineers presented a formula-based approach using pavement structural analysis and sample road cores across the county.
The initial detailed estimate used a conservative 95% reliability factor and produced a per-well, per-mile replacement cost of about $40,600. Consultants explained that using a 90% reliability (a standard for major/minor collectors per UDOT methodology) reduces that figure to $27,900 per well per mile. Further scenario adjustments — where the county would cover the 20% "items not estimated" (signage, drainage and other contingencies) and assume half the impacted roads could be addressed with a 4-inch overlay rather than full reconstruction — would reduce the charge to approximately $23,000 per well per mile; a mixed-overlay/reconstruction scenario could bring the number down further to about $18,400.
Commissioners discussed potential policy options including mileage caps, capping the fee at a set mileage, offering credits if industry pre-upgrades a road, and whether fees should be reduced where the county elects to cover certain non-structural items. Industry representatives requested the underlying data and a third-party verification; staff said they would provide exportable spreadsheets and a map showing where cores were taken and which roads industry expects to use.
No final ordinance vote occurred; commissioners directed staff and the consultant to provide written scenarios and clarified estimates for the next meeting, including sample road-by-road cost comparisons and an exhibit overlaying industry proposed haul routes with the county’s pavement core locations.
