County to put tax increase back on ballot

At the Eddy County Commission meeting on Tuesday, July 2, commissioners discussed the failure of a ballot measure that would have raised taxes for road and bridge purposes.

More specifically, the county doesn’t currently have the funding necessary to complete road repairs on County Road 10 – otherwise known as the Brantford Road – and were asking county residents to allow an increase of 20 mills to raise money for the project.

The measure failed by a margin of approximately 60-40 percent, and now commissioners are expected to ask voters to consider the measure again this November.

The Brantford Road is widely accepted to be in need of significant repairs, and the road has been at the top of the commission’s priority list with the N.D. Department of Transportation (DOT) for years.

Consequently, until that priority is taken care of the county can’t move on to future road projects such as for County Road 1, another road in need of repairs but which is number two on the priority list.

Currently, Eddy County levies 10 mills for county roads and bridges, which is the maximum allowed by state law without a majority vote from Eddy County voters. Without additional funds, the county says they simply can’t make progress on their official priority list with the DOT.

Therefore, commissioners appeared to agree on Tuesday that they would place the measure before county residents again in November, with plans to do a better job of making their case to voters.

No official motion was carried to place the measure on November’s ballot, but they are expected to do so at an upcoming meeting.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners were told that progress is being made to update the county’s 911 signage, or the street signs that mark rural roads.

In July of last year, it was discovered that some of the rural street signage in Eddy County had been incorrectly placed following road construction.

In addition, much of the signage in rural Eddy County had become washed out and impossible to read, which could lead to catastrophe if first responders were forced to rely on those very street signs in the event of a rural emergency.

In response, the Eddy County Road Department cataloged the state of all 911 signage in the county, and it was ultimately decided that it was time to simply replace all the signs.

Todd Weber, Eddy County’s road superintendent, said the life expectancy of the signage is 20 years, which is about how long the old signs have been in place.

All totaled, around 1,000 street signs will be replaced in the county, and Weber said approximately 300 have already been done.

Much of the work has been completed by Bradyn Collier and Hailee Weber, the Road Department’s temporary helpers this summer who have already replaced much of the signage in northwest Eddy County, and who are currently working in and around the Tiffany Township area.

Weber told commissioners on Tuesday that the rough cost of replacing every sign could be around $50,000, and commissioners said there are potential grant opportunities they’ll be looking for to help cover the cost.

The goal, said Weber, is to have all 911 signage in the county replaced by the end of summer, though that will depend on when the new signs get delivered to the county. The signs are made by Roughrider Industries, a division of the N.D. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

After hearing the update on signage, commissioners also renewed the Joint Powers Agreement between the City of New Rockford and the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office for another year.

The next regular meeting of the county commission is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6 at 8 a.m. in the basement of the Eddy County Courthouse.