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Highway superintendent urges ordinance to charge for underground boring in county right-of-way
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Summary
Highway superintendent Eddie asked commissioners to allow staff to draft an ordinance and fee schedule to charge for underground boring and other right-of-way work, citing lost revenue from recent fiber and utility projects and fee comparisons with surrounding counties.
The county’s highway superintendent urged the commission to direct staff to draft an ordinance establishing fees for underground boring and other work in county rights-of-way.
Eddie said surrounding counties have set fees for contractors who bore under county roads and that Morgan County has missed potential revenue from several years of fiber and utility installations. "I've tried to put this ordinance together to where when they do underground boring and use our right of way, they have a charge for that," Eddie said, adding that a short, evidence-based fee schedule would recover lost revenue and encourage better right-of-way management.
He said he had surveyed Hendricks, Boone, Hamilton and Johnson counties and proposed averaging their fee schedules as a starting point. Commissioners asked staff to prepare an amendment to the existing draft ordinance that includes a clear fee schedule and to run the draft by legal counsel for review before placement on a future agenda.
No final fee schedule was adopted at the meeting; the commission directed staff to develop the ordinance amendment and return for review.
