Gage County officials get report on culvert work status

BEATRICE – Gage County Supervisors Wednesday voted to have the county attorney’s office send a letter to the bonding company of a construction firm working on several concrete box culvert projects in the northwest part of the county.  The letter expresses the dissatisfaction with the pace of the work being completed.

Completion of the projects was far behind the original expected completion date.  The company was granted extensions through June 1^st to complete the projects.  Since that time, liquidated damages have been assessed on uncompleted projects.  Supervisor Emily Haxby says more progress has been made from two weeks ago.

“Two projects need to get finished yet….and then once they‘re all done we’ll be seeding and striping.”

Meanwhile, after several years of running behind on township road gravel allotments ordered, Gage County Highway Superintendent Mark Kuhnke says deliveries are close to being caught up.

“As of Monday, we handed out the last township map for Spring of ’25 gravel. We will be rolling into Fall of ’25 gravel probably by the end of this week, or later. At this moment, there are only seven townships who have turned in Fall of ’25 gravel which is not due until July 1^st.  We are caught up….maybe a little bit ahead….but we’re right there.”

Gage County Board member Terry Jurgens says it’s the first time he can remember in several years, that gravel requests and deliveries are on schedule.  Existence of a new pit west of Fairbury has helped out, greatly….both for township road deliveries and those for county roads.

Gage County officials are awaiting word, possibly this week, on the outcome of an application for RAISE grant funding made by the county.   Officials also are expecting a $5.4 million congressional allocation to help with a couple of road projects….a project being jointly addressed by Gage County and the Southeast Nebraska Development District.