Highway and Facilities Departments Gear Up for Summer Operations

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Codington County Commissioners opened their May 19th meeting with County Highway Superintendent Randy Falvey presenting a largely quiet monthly report, noting, “obviously we’re done with the white stuff thankfully, so we got the plows and everything off”.

Falvey updated the board on several ongoing projects:

·         Grangaard construction continues to run ahead of schedule on the 14th Avenue bridge.

·         Construction officially closed down 460th Avenue to begin repair work on the east side of a damaged bridge.

·         The department is currently utilizing a new crack sealer and hauling pea rock in preparation for chip sealing later in the season.

·         Two highway department employees are currently on medical leave, and the department is actively accepting applications for a Maintenance II position.

Following Falvey’s report, the commission unanimously approved a motion to declare three pieces of highway equipment as surplus. A 2013 crack sealer and a 1974 John Deere tractor will be sold via Purple Wave. Additionally, a 1965 Trail Mobile 8,800-gallon water tanker will be donated to the Lake Area Technical College.

Facility Manager Steve Molengraaf also delivered his monthly update, noting robust activity at Memorial Park, which recorded 633 reservations generating $81,007.50 in revenue.

He also highlighted challenges with the county’s mosquito fogger, stating it is “having issues with electronics, causing the throttle not to engage,” requiring manual operation and likely necessitating a replacement machine next year.

Staffing at the park remains an ongoing issue, with Molengraaf emphasizing that lawn maintenance requires a significant amount of active upkeep, remarking, “there’s a lot of mowing but there’s a lot of also maintenance too”.