Griggs County commissioners reported details from a recent field visit to Foster County as planning for a large pipeline draws nearer. Commissioners described wide construction paths, flattened intersections and a volume of traffic they said could reach "1,000 loads in and out per mile," and said those conditions illustrated the potential scale of road damage and maintenance costs for townships and the county.

Commissioners and staff said Foster County’s experience showed that standard per‑mile payments — which a commissioner characterized as about $10,000 per mile in some local discussions — are unlikely to cover full repair costs when shoulders are widened, intersections are altered and heavy equipment regularly crosses county and township roads. Commissioners recounted examples they observed: graves of heavy equipment arriving (excavators and bulldozers), large excavators weighing 140,000 to over 200,000 pounds and heavy trailer combinations that concentrate axle loads and stress bridges.

Jamie (county staff/legal) said he is drafting a hybrid agreement that pulls language from other counties’ ordinances and contractor agreements; he said he will work with townships and the county auditor’s office to ensure townships are represented and not left with unrecoverable costs. Commissioners urged including firm contract terms requiring the contractor to fund monitoring/enforcement and to pay for independent inspection or dedicated on‑site enforcement personnel, and suggested requiring the contractor to pay for monitoring staff rather than leaving enforcement to county deputies or township volunteers.

Commissioners also raised operational enforcement questions: who will check trucks and verify weights, whether troopers will be engaged and whether permits and contractor responsibilities can explicitly require the contractor to provide monitoring and pay for staff. A proposal discussed in the meeting was to require the contractor to fund an inspector or monitoring team whose hiring would be subject to county approval.

Jamie said he has attracted model agreements and ordinance language from other jurisdictions and will prepare drafts for the commission to review; commissioners agreed to continue developing the agreement and to place pipeline contracting and road protection on future agendas.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: Jamie will continue drafting the agreement, staff will coordinate with affected townships and the county will explore contract provisions that require contractor‑funded monitoring and clearly stated repair obligations.