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Jay County highway update: dust-mat delay, rusted culverts and county help for fairgrounds
Summary
Highway Superintendent Eric Butcher reported chip-and-seal work, vendor delays for a dust‑mat program (about 75 landowners participating), and presented two repair cost options for rusted 16" culverts. Commissioners recommended using the cum‑bridge fund and approved funding for ½ mile of chip‑and‑seal at the fairgrounds with fairboard paying stone.
Eric Butcher, Jay County highway superintendent, briefed the commissioners on current operations, maintenance and local infrastructure needs during the June 12 session.
Butcher said crews began chipping and sealing last week but encountered minor equipment problems (the roller and the bush‑axe radiator), and that the highway department is taking daily weather readings to track causes of equipment issues. He informed the board his administrative assistant had submitted notice with a last day of June 15 and would work part time to train her replacement.
On the county’s dust mat program, Butcher said vendor delays pushed the application to late June or early July; he estimated about 75 landowners would participate this year. He cautioned that grading treated roads can damage the product and noted some counties use oil‑based dust control that doesn’t require annual reapplication.
Butcher described a failing pair of 16‑inch culverts at 125 S west of 500 E; the tile bottoms are rusting out. He presented two options: replacing the tiles alone (St. Regis Tile estimate $13,850, not including licensed crane work) or installing an aluminum culvert (Civilcon estimate roughly $80,000). Commissioner Chad Aker recommended funding the repair from the cumulative bridge fund and asked Butcher to work with department representative Rex Journay to identify the practical approach.
Separately, Dalton Vanskyock of the fair board requested chip‑and‑seal for roughly a half mile of roadway near the grandstands. Butcher estimated the emulsions for that work at about $13,000; the fair board agreed to pay for stone and asked the county to cover emulsions and labor if schedule permitted. The commissioners approved funding for the emulsions with the motion made by Rex Journay and seconded by Brian McGalliard.
The commissioners did not set a specific contractor in the minutes and did not direct immediate borrowing or reallocation beyond the recommendation to use cumulative bridge funds for the culvert repair.
