|
No special treatment for Tautges' project Everything by the books, highway engineer says Senior Reporter Those who have seen Crow Wing County highway vehicles at a county commissioner's home may have thought the commissioner was getting special consideration.
Not so, said Duane Blanck, county highway engineer.
Commissioner Dewey Tautges is building a house on Crow Wing County Road 131 and applied and received the usual entrance permit from the county with a deposit of $250.
Blanck, who checked time sheets and went to the site after the question arose, said normal procedures were followed. They included an on-site review.
The maintenance supervisor said shaping the ditch, described as a steep bank, was appropriate for the placement of an entrance culvert. Highway department staff told Tautges the shaping also would help facilitate snow removal from the road. Tautges has his own equipment, including a Bobcat for work on his farm. He said he offered to do the work in the ditch, but the highway department workers were coming down the road in response to a neighbor's request and included the Tautges property. County staff, with two machines and operators for a day, shaped the ditch and cut and shaped the back slope.
"Commissioner Tautges requested the back slope within the road right-of-way be cut back for safety reasons and offered to allow the cutting or shaping of the back slope to extend beyond the right-of-way," Blanck said. "This request is not considered unusual in that safety issues related to entrances are an overall concern related to roadway safety and addressing roadside conditions is the norm."
The county staff used material on-site, which Tautges used his own equipment to move dirt to the area where the driveway was rough graded.
"I don't deserve any special treatment," Tautges said Tuesday after the Crow Wing County Board meeting. Tautges said he did not ask for special treatment and did not want to create the impression he was receiving any.
"It is not uncommon that some shaping of the ditch line is done by county forces for a new entrance, especially on older roadways that were not necessarily engineered or graded to current standards," Blanck said. "Shaping is done by county forces since our entrance permit policy includes the county delivering and setting the culvert in the ditch line with the property owner completing the remaining work as may be required."
RENEE RICHARDSON can be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
|
Overcast, 61°
