County not responsible for fixing mailboxes

     It was brought up during the March 21 Jones County Supervisor meeting that some mailboxes on 15th Street were disturbed during recent placement of spot rock.

   Supervisor Ned Rohwedder said a resident sent him photos of the situation and asked the Engineer's Office what could be done.

   "There are a lot (of mailboxes) out there that are starting to do that; I took care of my own," Assistant Engineer Todd Postel said. "We're not putting rock in front of mailboxes and driveways."

   "During spot rock and contract rock, the material spreads out slightly," added Engineer Derek Snead. "Generally speaking, mailboxes are set up on the earthen shoulders. They occasionally need to be reset.

   "Driveways are the responsibility of the landowner to maintain and keep up," continued Snead. "Jones County doesn't rock them. We have 10,000 access points in Jones County; we don't have the manpower to maintain."

   Rohwedder brought up the fact the 15th Street was just reconstructed in 2019.

   "They were taken out and not replaced," he said. "And the rock is not up to grade."

   "We didn't want it (the rock) up to grade," answered Snead. "We did that project (in 2019) to improve the drainage. It's improved."

   "The potholes on the road are horrendous," added Rohwedder.

   Snead said since the road was rebuilt, they have not had the chance to apply new contract rock.

   "There are a lot of potholes everywhere," Postel said.

   "It was graded recently, but there was no attempt to fix it," Rohwedder said. "There's no crown."

   Supervisor Joe Oswald said all of the gravel roads are still frozen yet.

   "It's on the list for contract rock," offered Postel.

   "We're trying to fix them (the roads) as best we can," added Snead.

   Both Snead and Postel said once the roads start gradually drying out, things will improve.

   Snead said his last claim into the Auditor's Office was for $112,000 for spot rock. Typically, his office doesn't start using spot rock until mid-March.

   "We've essentially gone through our spot rock budget now," he told the board. "We have money left over, but not much. Just keep that in mind."

   "We know you've been trying," Oswald said.

   "We're not entirely out of the woods yet," Postel said.