I hope everyone is either sitting in front of a roaring fireplace or, better yet, sitting on a beach somewhere in the tropics. There have been no polar bear sightings in Lincoln County…yet.
A few items of interest that the Commission has been working on are below.
- In 2017 there were 19 commercial projects undertaken with 5 of those being an expansion of a current business, 4 were businesses that relocated from one location to another within Lincoln County, and 10 were brand new undertakings. All of these figures are reason for optimism, but the new projects in particular are indicative of good things to come.
- I have been receiving a few questions about our 5-year road surfacing plan that will be implemented this year. Several of the inquiries have been about which specific roads are included in the plan. Road selection is based on ongoing maintenance costs as gleaned from our newly implemented road maintenance software. At this time, we have a set list of roads for the 2018 program and a tentative list for 2019, but nothing is set in stone for years 3-5 other than the fact that we plan to re-surface an average of 20 miles per year over the next 5 years. Later this year we will finalize our plans for 2019 and determine our prospect list for 2020 based on the costs, then repeat this process annually. An important aspect of this plan is that the roads selected are chosen objectively based upon facts, and the plan can be extended indefinitely to continue the process beyond the original 5-year timeframe regardless of who is in office.
- Road salt is in good supply as some years ago we constructed a salt storage structure which allows us to maintain a robust supply. In addition to our membership in a salt buying coop, we have also established our own buying program which enables us to pre-buy our initial supply and restock throughout the season at a predetermined price. All of this has resulted in significant cost savings for the County.
That’s all I have time for now. As always, call, e-mail or stop by the Courthouse if you have questions. Until next week…
Dan Colbert
Presiding Commissioner
