Road & Bridge lays out winter maintenance, hires and a temporary encroachment permit for wildfire mitigation

Road & Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger told the Board on Dec. 9 that crews completed November grading and drainage maintenance, are sustaining winter maintenance operations and planned to begin crack-sealing Government Springs Road the following week depending on material availability. Ty also sought authorization to recruit a drainage crew chief starting Jan. 1 and, if filled internally, to recruit an equipment operator to backfill the promoted position.

"We are going to commence crack sealing of Government Springs Road starting tomorrow," Ty said, cautioning that available product (three pallets) may limit how far the crew can go before ordering more.

Ty and commissioners also discussed including vegetation and right-of-way management in the county’s 1-and-6-year road plan to address encroaching willows and tree issues and to create a consistent policy for dust control prioritization along school-bus and multimodal routes.

Separately, landowner Joel Northey asked the board for a two-week extension to plow a mile past the county’s no-plow line to finish a wildfire mitigation project and to ensure an egress corridor. He said weather and funding delays left the project behind schedule. The board agreed in principle to allow a narrowly time-limited, community-benefit temporary encroachment permit, but required strict terms: a hard maximum duration (seven to 14 days), no gates or obstructions to public access, insurance/bonding, a turnaround/parking area at the plow point and a no-precedent clause.

"If you can really stick to that hard deadline of two weeks, then I can be good with that," the chair said, adding that staff should be sure the agreement does not create a precedent for winter plowing in the high country.

Legal and public-works staff said they would reuse an existing right-of-way permit template, add community-benefit and no-precedent language, and circulate a draft for board review.

The board also asked Ty to hold off spending certain road-material funds that had been tentatively transferred from the paving reserve until the board finalizes their budget decisions in January. Connie, the finance lead, explained that one $100,000 was earmarked for the Corbett Creek grant match and should be preserved for that purpose.

Ty additionally reported two vacancies (drainage crew chief and equipment operator) and sought permission to recruit following the board’s guidance; commissioners indicated support for proceeding with recruitment under budget constraints.

Board direction: staff to draft a temporary right-of-way encroachment permit tailored to the wildfire mitigation project and to coordinate on timing, insurance and public-notice requirements; Ty to update the 1-and-6-year plan to include vegetation management language and dust-control priorities.