The Brown County Board of Commissioners approved a right‑of‑way request from Northwestern (Northwestern) Energy to run a gas line near US‑12 and heard a department update from Highway Superintendent Dirk Rogers on ongoing maintenance and capital work.
Rogers described planned and ongoing work: continued mowing until winter, hot‑mix paving while temperatures allow, shouldering, striping plans on County Road 12 West and possibly County Road 21, blading and graveling, and use of a resurfacing/solidering machine the department has tested on County Road 12 West. He also reported repairs and shouldering at specific locations (for example, west of Frederick on County Road 5 and south of County Road 14) and said striping and striping scheduling were under consideration.
The commission approved a right‑of‑way to Northwestern Energy to tap in near US‑12 to serve three buildings; the motion was made by Callahan and seconded by Weis and carried by voice vote. Rogers also said Warner (a local area) had expressed interest in culvert replacement and that subject will likely return to the commission for cost‑share discussion; he said Warner residents are expected to pay most costs but county staff will continue study and discussion.
Rogers also raised recurring problems with railroad crossings that produce a long‑standing rough bump at several crossings; commissioners discussed options (milling, concrete work) and noted any work will require coordination with railroad right‑of‑way and possibly more substantial projects.
Provenance (transcript excerpts)
Topic intro excerpt: "First thing I've got is right away is we're running gas into the work that they're doing out at Ochsner there along Brown County 19. It's just Northern or Western Energy is gonna tap in down by US 12 and, run a line north of our right away to feed into their 3 buildings there.".
Topic finish excerpt: "Okay. Good. Anything else? ... Thank you, guys."