Committee OKs update to county speed limit ordinances
Taylor County is tightening down on speed limits throughout the county with an updated ordinance setting speed zones on county roads.
At Tuesday’s highway committee meeting, members approved a new section 27.13 of the county code which governs speed limits. The committee approval clears the way for the ordinance change to go to the full county board for final approval.
According to highway commissioner Ben Stanfley, having the speed limits zones all in one section of the county code simplifies it when requests are made to change speed limits. “I feel it should come through the committee and the county board,” Stanfley said.
In drafting the updated ordinance, Stanfley worked with the villages and towns where there were reduced speed limits in order to get the speeds consistent and to ensure that the location spelled out in the code matches the actual area where the signs are posted.
The code includes changes in the village of Lublin, Stetsonville, and Gilman switching to 25 mph ramping up to 35 mph within the village limits. In addition there were school zones added for in Stetsonville and Rib Lake where when children are present the speed limit will go to 15 mph.
In other action, committee members received an update on spending in the department.
A benefit of last year’s milder than normal winter was that there were left over funds in the department’s winter snow removal budget.
“This is the first time we have been significantly under budget since 2015,” Stanfley said. He said this was the first snow removal budget that has come in under budget in the time he has been highway commissioner. He said more typically, the county has had to take money from summer road maintenance projects in order to make up for winter snow removal shortfalls.
Committee member Chuck Zenner jokingly asked if the surplus would be returned to the general fund.
Stanfley replied that the plan was to use the funds to catch up on other projects that have been delayed, such as repairs to the salt shed and rebuilding the lean-to on the salt shed in Medford which has seen warping in the walls. He said he is also working to get ahead of expected price increases to purchase and have on hand culverts for upcoming county and town road needs. He said he is also looking at putting some of the savings to the projects planned for CTH D and CTH V.
“We are getting back to our pre-COVID levels of doing 10 to 11 miles a year,” Stanfley said, noting that putting additional funds to those projects will allow them to be done in a single year rather than having to be spread over multiple years.
Stanfley explained that they have had to trim out of routine maintenance projects in the past and that in doing so the county has been neglecting some of its roads. He said this allows them to put some back into those roads. “I think it is a good spot to get caught up on,” Zenner said, in support of Stanfley’s plans.
