Wexagaw County board tables Kettle Road culvert vote for fourth straight meeting

WEXAGAW COUNTY — The Board of Commissioners on Tuesday postponed, for the fourth consecutive meeting, a vote on replacing the failing culvert under Kettle Road near the Upper Dorr township line.

All seven commissioners agreed the culvert should be replaced. The disagreement, which consumed most of a two-hour meeting, concerned which township the culvert is in.

The county's 1958 survey places the culvert in Upper Dorr. A 1971 survey places it in Tamarack Township. Commissioner Gene Fessler, who represents Tamarack, produced a third map, undated, on which Kettle Road does not appear at all.

"I'm not saying the road isn't there," Fessler said. "I drove it here. I'm saying the paperwork has opinions."

Cost and timeline

Road commission engineer Pat Haverkamp estimated replacement at $186,000, with work possible before the spring thaw if a vote comes by February. Asked what happens if it does not, Haverkamp said the culvert would "continue its current approach," which she described as "slowly becoming a creek."

What's next

The board directed staff to commission a fourth survey. The item returns to the agenda on the second Tuesday of next month. This reporter will be there, as he has been for the previous three.