Bonneville County commissioners on Jan. 4 reviewed a technical memorandum for the 49th North Road bridge over Sand (Gas) Creek and agreed to prepare a formal letter asking Intermountain Gas to move a 16‑inch high‑pressure natural‑gas main that conflicts with the bridge footing.

County staff presented two options: require Intermountain Gas to relocate the main off the bridge alignment, or leave the line in place under part of the footing and accept added engineering and construction mitigation. "My recommendation is to tell Intermountain Gas that they have to move their facility," said an unidentified county staff member, summarizing the staff position that a commissioner‑level instruction will carry more weight than an engineer’s letter alone.

Borax Engineering project manager Drew Mappen, who spoke for the project team, said relocation can be staged to avoid delaying the bridge if the utility performs the work during the non‑irrigation/off‑peak season. "They can stub in the new line just to the north, and then when it's an off peak…they can then make the transfer," Mappen said, describing a switch‑over plan meant to keep the project on schedule.

Mappen and staff reported a pothole investigation identified a slight conflict between the existing main and the east abutment. Leaving the line in place, Mappen said, would shift risk to the contractor and the county and could increase bid prices and schedule time. "The engineering costs are pretty minimal, but we foresee the big impact of cost coming to the project through the contractor's bid," he said.

Commissioners and staff also discussed public‑safety and service consequences if the line were damaged. An unidentified commissioner noted the main serves roughly 40,000 customers and said a failure in winter could cause widespread outages. Staff added that Intermountain Gas could build a temporary bypass and switch service, but that the county prefers avoiding the risk entirely through relocation.

Staff proposed and commissioners agreed to make an action item next week to draft a formal county commission letter directing Intermountain Gas to relocate the main; the county will also ask legal counsel to review a cited state statute to confirm the county’s authority to issue a board order compelling relocation. No formal vote was recorded at the meeting.

Next steps: staff will prepare a draft letter from the commissioners and seek counsel guidance on statutory authority; the relocation request will appear as an action item on a forthcoming agenda.