Line May Change To CO2 From Natural Gas

Information was released Tuesday during the correspondence segment at the regular Kimball County Commissioners meeting that Tall Grass is proposing switching their pipeline from natural gas to CO2.

The Tall Grass pipeline runs in the southern portion of Kimball County. They anticipate pushing CO2 to the west. The approval must come from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In other county business, the commissioners purchased an additional motor grader through the state bid process and Murphy Tractor. The price of the motor grader is $296,558 with a trade-in of $39,000 for the 140H and a $50,000 down payment therefore a total net cost of $207,558.

Randy Bymer, the county highway superintendent, said that the county road department has been grading and, on some hot days, has been filling potholes in the Dix road. Work on the Dix road is continuing.

The commissioners approved a resolution to vacate Forsling Road and set a public hearing for July 19 on the actions. A road study was conducted on Forsling Road, which is a minimum maintenance road on the state NDOT map.

Forsling Road is 2.3 miles long and is located west of county road 27 along I-80. The entire area Forsling Road impacts is owned by Ray Freeburg. According to the road study, Forsling Road's daily traffic is about four vehicles a day. There are four culverts on the road, as well as eight road warning signs, which will be removed. Signs are about $100-$150 each.

The road study continued to state: “The cost of blading the 2.3 miles at an average of $100 a mile, could cost approximately $690 each year that is only blading it 3 times a year. So, the money we received for the 2.3 miles is just enough to blade it 3-4 times a year, that may increase in bad weather to washing.”

Sheila Newell, zoning administrator, responded to questions and comments during the public hearing for or against the proposed amendments to the Kimball County Zoning and Subdivision Regulations. Questions and discussions on permanent dwellings were answered by Newell in the first half of the public hearing.

Christy Warner updated the board on Kimball County Transit Service. She projected that on July 1 the transit would be making runs to Denver International Airport. She noted that they would need seven riders to make a profit on the airport run. Another opportunity may arise for the transit because it appears that Morrill County transit will be stopping their service.

Under discussion/action items and continuing on the expenditure of ARPA Funds – research will be done on the cost of a chiller, boiler, windows and the remodel of the county clerk's office.

The next commissioners meeting will be 9 a.m. July 6.