BENTONVILLE -- A video survey of Benton County's paved roads showed most of the 800 miles of paved roads are in fair to excellent condition, according to a report made to the Quorum Court on Thursday.
"I'm very pleased with how this turned out," County Judge Barry Moehring told the justices of the peace. "I think it shows us the roads we want to work on."
Special Elections
Benton County’s Quorum Court on Thursday approved a pair of special elections for July 11. The Beaver Lake Fire Department will ask for an increase in annual fire dues from $75 to $150 and Avoca will ask voters to approve Sunday liquor sales.
Source: Benton County
The county hired a pavement management team led by GreenbergFarrow to survey and assess the roads. The company ranked the roads by their condition and need for repair or maintenance. According to Thursday's summary, 2.8 percent of the roads are in excellent condition while 51.3 percent are in good condition. Another 31.7 percent are in fair condition. The summary showed 10.3 percent of the paved roads in critical condition and 3.9 percent were considered lost.
Jay Frasier, public services administrator and head of the Road Department, briefed the justices of the peace on the department's work done so far and work planned for 2017. According to Frasier, the department has worked on 63 roads so far in 2017 in what he described as "the non-paving season." He said the department has worked on 63 miles of roads, much of it road grading work, and done work on 61 water crossings involving county roads. He said the department has also done 10 miles of crack sealing work.
For the remainder of 2017, Frasier said, the department plans to do "65-plus miles" of paving work and repair more than 1,000 potholes out of more than 1,200 identified. Frasier said the department is hoping to increase the paving work for 2018 to more than 75 miles.
The Quorum Court approved the county's application for additional grant money for the War Eagle Bridge. Moehring said a city in Northwest Arkansas had been unable to qualify for the grant money and it's now available for other entities. Brenda Guenther, comptroller, said the county can apply for another $500,000. Any grant money awarded would require the county to provide a 20 percent match.
The justices of the peace were also told the county received a $71,000 natural gas bill from Black Hills Energy for service to the jail, with the bill representing 14 months of service when a gas meter wasn't operating properly. Rich Davis, with Black Hills, said the company is bound by rules and regulations of the Arkansas Public Service Commission and calculated the amount of natural gas used based on a three-year average and billed the county for 95 percent of that average. The justices of the peace agreed the county should pay the amount and monitor the 2017 budget to avoid going over budget.
NW News on 04/28/2017