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Request Continues To Abandon Road

Another public meeting is scheduled to cover an adjusted request to abandon road 2058. Commissioner Gordon Oelkers explained that landowner Lynn Labatte has changed his request from about a two-mile area to about a mile section.

“He’s bringing the petition forward, so we have to hear it,” Oelkers said during the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday, April 4.

The public meeting regarding the petition is scheduled for Monday, May 1, at the county building in Culbertson starting at 6:30 p.m.

Last month, commissioners voted against a request to abandon the road. Oelkers said that he was advised by a commissioner from a different county not to abandon roads because there might be a need for the road in the future.

Commissioners agreed that signs could be posted to distract oil companies from using the road.

“I can’t believe you aren’t going to close this,” Labatte said to commissioners. “It’s our property, the whole thing.”

During a commissioners’ meeting in late January, residents said that there was a petition to abandon the road in 2007, but the request wasn’t approved at that time.

The commissioners have also announced that a public hearing to hear input on accepting roads to be public roads is scheduled for Monday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. in Culbertson. Commissioners said the meeting will deal with the last “batch” of roads prior to dealing with roads on the reservation.

Commissioners approved 18 resolutions to declare the existence of county roads during the April 4 meeting.

The sheriff’s office’s request to spend $35,000 in Stone Garden grant funds to purchase a 2022 Equinox AWD was approved. Commissioners noted that it leaves only $241 currently in the Stone Garden fund. About $2,000 is utilized from the fund monthly to cover overtime for the sheriff’s office.

“Overtime will have to come from his budget,” commissioner Gary Macdonald said.

Commissioners approved Option A for the GNDC Home Deferred Mortgage Program.

New lower fees for the Justice of the Peace for Clerk of Court Records, Post 1, were established.

Commissioner Robert Toavs was appointed to the Eastern Region Juvenile Detention board. The county will experiment with Perma-Zyme soil stabilization solution for roads to see if the materials will work in the area. It could be a cost-saving process for the county.

New hires were Robert Armstrong for the detention center and Cody Sietsema for the road department.

Brittany Deavila resigned from the treasurer’s office.

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