Crossing the Bridge, Replace or Rebuild
Lee Zion, Editor
Harrison County is looking at funding to repair or build bridges.
John Rasmussen, engineer for the county, told the county commission that federal funds for bridges passed the House. He has five bridges on tap. “That’s gonna accelerate the difference between the winners and the losers,” Rasmussen said. “There are going to be the people that are ready to build, and the people that still need a year or two to develop.”
His department will take the proposed bridges through the design process. Once the county is awarded money, it will purchase right-of-way and handle similar situations up front, he said.
“When I’m buying for a bridge, I’m buying river bottom or creek bottom. A slope full of brush and some ditches,” Rasmussem said. “I’m not normally taking structures or anything else.”
This will put them ahead of the game, especially considering that costs might increase later. The worst that could happen is the county will buy land before it’s needed, he said. The commissioners also briefly discussed setting rules for data centers. Rife said he was neutral on the issue. He said he worried that if the county does not adopt ordinances for data centers, solar and wind projects, the state could step in and do it instead.
“The state’s going to mandate where they go, and we’re not going to have any say,” he said.
He also felt strongly about preserving farmland.
Commissioner Tony Smith brought up another concern. “If you start bringing data centers in that use all this electricity, does that push all our rates up? Because we’re using more than what we bought on that four-year purchase,” he said.
Water use is another concern. Today’s data centers use a lot of water, but Rife noted that forthcoming technology could use a lot less water.
The council decided to bring the matter back up for its Aug. 13 meeting.The county took no action on a resolution for personal time buyout. Council Chairman Brian Rife said the proposal needs work.
The commissioners approved issuing a credit card for deputy Morgan Beckner.
