County aims for March contract on 6th Street box culvert; engineers ready bid package for Feb. 9

Fallon County engineering staff told the commission the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will honor the county’s existing authorization if the county has a signed contract before March 14, and proposed a compressed bid schedule to meet that requirement.

The county’s project lead said the plan is to post an invitation to bid for the 6th Street box culvert around the Feb. 9 meeting, open bids in the first week of March and make an award the following week so the contract date precedes the Corps’ March 14 threshold. He said design engineering is largely complete but requires updates to the roadway removal and repaving line items to match current conditions; those fixes are expected before bids go out.

Staff also described permitting status with Fish & Wildlife and DEQ: DEQ submission is active through an online portal and Fish & Wildlife hadn’t completed its review. With Corps authorization in hand, staff said they are confident the required permits will be obtained and that construction could occur during the summer construction season.

Separately, staff presented a refreshed county road map project: commissioners asked that public wall maps show township and section numbers rather than parcel boundaries and that abandoned and private roads be kept as optional GIS layers to reduce clutter on the printed display. The county engineer will update the cover sheet and produce a large printed map for review at next week’s meeting.

Next steps: staff will finalize the bid package, add road removal/repaving items, advertise as recommended and return with the printed road map for commissioner review.