Commissioners Approve Airport Road Project, Turn Down Raises

After recently announcing they will be accepting bids for a project that will span 1.8 miles of Airport Road, Valley County Commissioners have accepted the offer made by sole bidder Century Paving of Lewistown. The company’s bid of $774,477 will cover leveling and a 2-inch overlay running a 1.8 mile span of Airport Road, spanning from Ezzie’s Westend to the junction next to the high school. This project will also include chip sealing on 7th Ave. N., from near the northern most house to the intersection with Airport Road. The proposed improvements do not include Scottie Pride Drive.

Construction is expected to begin within two or three weeks and should be completed by Sept. 1. Funding for this upgrade will be covered by Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds received earlier this summer by the federal government.

The commissioners also met with the compensation board to discuss possible raises for county employees and elected officials. The board, composed of several citizens and elected officials, recommended that there be a 6.8 percent raise. Commissioners felt that was too much of an increase and asked the board to reconvene and return with a lower figure for them to consider.