Approving bids on proposed work on county roads delayed awaiting clarification

The Linn County Commission delays taking action on a proposed road project until the scope of the project is clarified and funds are earmarked. (Journal file photo)

By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – Recently received estimates from the county’s contracted engineering firm brought concerns from the Linn County Commissioners on Monday, June 9.

Linn County Public Works Director Jesse Walton told commissioners Jim Johnson and Jason Hightower that the estimate for 1850 Road was going to be approximately $218,000 to just overlay 6,800 feet of the road. The 5.5 miles of county road that the county overlaid last year cost just over $655,900 or about $119,000 per mile. Commissioner Alison Hamilton was not at the meeting

The 1850 Road project will repair and overlay 1850 Road from County Road (CR) 1095 west to Tanglewood and from CR 1095 east to the blue water tower.

Walton provided the information that Pfefferkorn had estimated that a portion of CR 1095 which the county had received a High Risk Rural Road grant for would cost about $1.4 million. According to Walton, the grant would pay for $380,000 of that. The $1.4 million included the overlay, patching, signage, guardrails and striping. 

At the May 19, 2025, commission meeting, commissioners Johnson and Hamilton – after hearing from Gabe Pfefferkorn who asked the county to cover $200,000 worth of patching out of pocket for the 5.2 miles project – made a motion to approve the contract for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) hot mix asphalt overlay project provided by Pfefferkorn Engineering totaling nearly $1.45 million. Hightower was not at that meeting. 

At that May 19 meeting, Pfefferkorn had explain that the county paying for the patching and overlaying of the road made the contract more appealing to contractors. He estimated that the patching for the 5.2 miles of road would cost $200,000 and the overlaying approximately $464,000. 

According to Pfefferkorn the grant was going to pay around $365,000 that would include the striping, signing, and things like that after the road is overlaid. 

He told the commissioners that he thought they would be pleasantly surprised that the county was going to have money left over. He explained that the state had asked that 5% of road patching be included in the grant, but he said after examining the road he thought only about 1% of the road needed to be patched.

About a year ago the commissioners voted to approve the High Risk Rural Roads for the northern part of CR 1095 in the amount of $474,000. The county’s share of the cost was $104,000 plus $30,000 for outsourced road preparation.

Hightower said that the commissioners needed to figure out how the county was paying for this road before they sent it out to bid because it was in really bad shape.

County Clerk Danielle Souza told commissioners that the special road and bridge budget had over $1.74 million in it. 

Hightower asked Walton what he had available in the Public Works Department budget.

Walton answer that there was a little over a $1 million. 

Hightower asked what was set aside for the CR 1095 project.

Walton said that he did not know. 

Souza said that she did not see any appropriations set aside for those budgets.

Hightower said that at this rate they would be depleting the entire road budget of the county and that they needed to remember that next year they were set to do the five miles on the south half of CR 1095 through another High Risk Rural Road grant.

The commissioners decided to wait on making a decision until next week when they had more information about the balances in the county budgets.