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Mitchell County board approves MOU assigning bridge inspection responsibility to Mower County
Summary
The Mitchell County Board of Supervisors voted to sign a memorandum of understanding listing border/state-line bridges and attributing maintenance/inspection responsibility to neighboring Mower County to satisfy Federal Highway Administration reporting requirements.
The Mitchell County Board of Supervisors voted March 31 to sign a memorandum of understanding that documents which county is responsible for maintenance and inspections of several state-line and border bridges shared with Mower County.
County Engineer (speaker 7) told the board the MOU lists the county’s border bridges and, for federal reporting under the Federal Highway Administration, records Mower County as 100% responsible for maintenance and inspections while the document will reflect 50/50 ownership for reporting purposes. “It was always our understanding that Mower County took care of water bridges,” the engineer said, describing past practice and a need to put that arrangement in writing so the FHWA’s database (SIMS) reflects who reports inspections and maintenance.
Board members asked whether the agreement obligates Mitchell County financially. The engineer said there are no inspection or maintenance dollars currently on Mitchell County’s side for these bridges and that, while Mower County may be doing the inspections now, future replacement projects could trigger cost-sharing discussions. He noted instances in which a neighboring county funded an entire replacement.
The board voted on a motion to approve signing the MOU and directed staff to send the signed document to the Mower County engineer for processing. The clerk ran a roll call; the motion passed.
Why it matters: documenting responsibility clarifies who submits federally required inspection reports and reduces the risk of bridges missing from the national database. It may also set the stage for future negotiations about funding for replacement projects.
What’s next: The engineer will send the signed MOU to Mower County’s engineer and the county will submit the documentation to FHWA as part of its SIMS reporting process.
