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Area resident wants to see Cedar County adopt a dust control plan
— Rob Dump Cedar County News
HARTINGTON — Area residents should not have to wait until summer dust clouds are rolling across the countryside to find out whether Cedar County has a plan.
With a dry winter and early spring raising concerns about possible drought conditions, Mark Goeden told Cedar County Commissioners Tuesday morning that at least one rural nuisance could be reduced if the county allows residents to use approved dust-control treatments on gravel roads.
“The roads don’t have to cause a dust storm every time a vehicle drives down them,” Goeden said.
Goeden appeared before the board to ask permission to treat the gravel road in front of his home with magnesium chloride, a dust-control product he said he has seen work well on heavily traveled gravel roads in South Dakota.
He said he believes some Cedar County residents may already be treating roads, but he wants the county to establish clear rules before he moves forward.
“I want to do this the right way,” Goeden told commissioners. “That’s why I’m here. I want to see some guidelines, some sort of policy put in place so we’re all on the same page.”
Goeden said dust has become a major issue along his road, which he described as a busy farm-to-market route.
“That’s a farm-to-market road. There are all kinds of trucks on it,” he said. “I think we had over 120 trucks go by the other day. That’s a lot of dust.”
He said rural residents should have options for reducing dust, especially when products are available that can help control the problem.
“There are better ways to live in the country,” Goeden said. “They make a product so you can live a good life in the country. We’ve got to get out of the Stone Age.”
Commissioners discussed the request before bringing County Attorney Ron Temple into the conversation.
Temple said whatever the board ultimately decides, commissioners would need to establish a clear and consistent policy.
Liability is always a concern, he said, but it should not automatically be used as a reason to reject the idea.
Temple said property owners would need to understand that if they pay to treat a county road and county crews later maintain that road and remove the treatment in the process, the county would not be responsible for reimbursing the property owner.
Goeden said one possibility could be for the county to avoid maintaining a treated stretch of road until after harvest season, when traffic and dust concerns may lessen.
Commissioner Dick Donner said a permitting process may be one way to make sure residents do not simply put whatever they want on county roads.
“It’s something we definitely have to consider,” Donner said.
Goeden agreed, saying a permit system would give the county more control over what products are used.
“If you don’t have a permitting process, people are just gonna do it anyway,” he said. “I definitely know there are people putting stuff out there. I just want to do it the right way — have people apply for a permit so they can
only put certain products down.”
Donner said the county may also want to consider some type of hold-harmless agreement that would protect the county from liability if a landowner pays to treat a road.
Commissioner Dave McGregor said the next step should be to gather more information before any policy is drafted.
“I don’t think Ron’s going to draft anything until we get our ducks in a row,” McGregor said.
Commissioners agreed more information is needed before they consider creating a policy or permitting process that would allow certain dust-control treatments on county roads.
They asked County Highway Supt. Carla Schmidt to research how other counties handle dust-control requests and to gather examples of policies used elsewhere.
Donner said that whatever policy the county may eventually adopt, he does not believe the county should be responsible for applying dust-control treatments or paying for them.
