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Brown County Browser: Highway projects update

The Brown County Highway Department has been busy performing many maintenance operations this summer. We have completed 18 miles of crack sealing, 35 miles of seal coating, major & minor patching of blacktop roads that are breaking down and spot graveling of county gravel roads. These repairs will extend the life of the road surfaces until we receive sufficient funds to perform a surface rehabilitation project or more maintenance operations so they don’t fail. There are some highways that are in good condition except for the cracks that run across the road. These cracks are deteriorating, allowing water under the surface and causing a bigger crack to develop. A vehicle driving on the road feels a bump at each crack. In the next month we plan to repair these cracks on a number of miles of roadway with a mastic product to seal the crack and smooth out the ride for the traveling public. This maintenance procedure will allow the County to get more years out of the road surface before a major surface rehabilitation project is needed.

This year the Highway Department sprayed 174 miles of right of way for weeds. With the miles sprayed last fall, all county roads have been sprayed. From now until the first snow that stays we will be mowing in the right of way as many miles of the road ditch as time allows. With the excessive rains in June and July some County Roads were closed for a short time this summer and some County Roads had debris on the road or in the right of way. Brown County was included in the federal disaster declaration for this storm event. The County will be working with FEMA as these repairs are completed.

County construction projects in 2018 have been mostly completed. 18 miles of county roads south and west of Hanska were cold inplace recycled and overlayed to rehabilitate the poor surfaces. Two county road segments in Springfield that were in poor condition were milled and overlayed. Two small bridges were replaced with large precast concrete box culverts. One was in Prairieville Township on 250th Street and the other was on CSAH 20 northeast of Hanska.

Planned construction projects in 2019 are:

• 10.6 miles of concrete overlay on County Road 29 between TH 4 and County Road 12

• 5.6 miles of shoulder widening and regrade of County Road 7 between Cobden and Evan

• Mill and overlay of County Road 24 in Leavenworth

• Mill and overlay portions of County Roads 34 and 35 in Sleepy Eye

• Bridge replacement on KC Road in Milford Township

Contact the County Highway Department if you have any questions on next year’s construction program.

Election Update

On Oct. 26, the Auditor-Treasurer’s office will be conducting the public accuracy testing of the voting equipment that will be utilized in the General Election on November 6th. This public accuracy test will be done in the Law Enforcement Center training room at 1 p.m. The public is invited to see how votes are counted. Once all machines are tested, the machines are sealed until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Reminder to voters in Mail Ballot precincts: Please make your choices for each of the offices on the ballot and return to the Auditor-Treasurer’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day. If mailing your ballot please allow five days for delivery.

All Minnesota voters will have the following races on their ballot: U.S. Senator, U.S. Senator (special election), U.S. Representative, Governor and Lt Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Attorney General, State Representative along with judicial offices. Voters may have one or more of these races on their ballot: County Officers, City Council members, School Board members and Township officers. Local ballot questions may also be on your ballot for this election. A sample ballot is accessible from the county website 45 days before any election. Take the time to research the candidates running for office.

Since 2014, Minnesota voters have increasingly used vote from home and early in-person voting to cast their ballots. Voting for the 2018 statewide general election began on September 21st. In Brown County over 23% of the voters are in the process of making their selections on who they feel would best serve them. This level of participate is exciting — if you haven’t voted yet, you can help your friends and neighbors keep our state #1 in voter participation by early voting today. Bur remember, whether you vote early or vote on Election Day, be a voter!”

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