_01072026-1644

Price County Highway & Transportation Committee Minutes Date: January 7, 2026 Time: 9:00 a.m. Place: Courthouse County Board Room 101; 126 Cherry St; Phillips, WI 54555 Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Larry Palecek, Committee Chair. Roll Call: Members Present: Joe Baratka (Remote), Doug Erickson, Paula Houdek, Larry Palecek, Jordan Spacek Also Present: Roger Petrick, County Highway Commissioner; Nick Trimner, County Administrator Items for Discussion and Possible Action 1. Public Comment: None. Communications: Nancy Vyskocil expressed gratitude to Price County for their road maintenance. Committee members shared positive comments about winter road maintenance. Discussion on county versus municipality responsibility for plowing specific roads in the Village of Prentice. 2. Minutes from October 28, 2025, Meeting: Motion Houdek/Erickson to approve October 28, 2025, meeting minutes. Motion carried. 3. 2026 Construction Projects: Work is scheduled for County Highway (Hwy) D and Hwy H. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is scheduled to work on portions of the highways listed including guard rail work and signage, and bids for the state project work go out in March 2026. No state highway work is estimated to be scheduled for Price County until 2029, and Hwy 70 and Hwy 8 are forecasted for work at that time. Towns of Worcester and Ogema will have bridge work done. County Hwy N could get worked done in 2027, at the soonest. Discussion on a pending grant for work on Hwy D. Discussion on spring pulverizing. 4. 6-20 Structure Inspections & Deficiency Reports: The 6-20 Structure Inspections and Deficiency Reports were presented and are on file, which is a follow-up on 25 total structures in Price County in need of repair. Town of Georgetown is the first to request a bridge and culvert aid for their structure. Town of Hackett has been in contact with the County over a cracked masonry arch on a culvert on Bennett Road, potentially costing an estimated $375,000-$400,000. Discussion about potentially dictating the timeline for bridge and culvert aid requests. A quote for $30 million in available ARIP money was discussed. 5. Town of Georgetown Bridge and Culvert Aid: Motion Erickson/Spacek motion to approve the Town of Georgetown Bridge and Culvert Aid request and to send the resolution to the Executive Committee for consideration. Motion carried. 6. Hwy 13 & Hwy 111: There’s been no response from WisDOT about additional safety measures such as rumble strips. Discussion on whether the flashing lights above the stop signs on both sides of the intersection have been installed by the state as planned. WisDOT did not approve the flashing round stop signs that were discussed at a previous meeting. Two additional stop-ahead signs and two additional stop signs were added to the intersection. 7. Equipment Replacement: The Equipment Fund is being built up, and it is estimated to be just under $200,000. Discussion on the $3.1 million past borrowing amounts. The borrowing resolutions will be updated to reflect updated expenditure amounts in categories for Construction and Equipment within the total amount spent. Joe Baratka was marked present remotely at 9:30 a.m. A highway shop truck from 2014 was totaled in an accident. Roughly $12,000 in insurance money was awarded for the totaled truck, and a request for additional money to purchase a truck was made. Motion Spacek/Erickson to approve using additional money out of the equipment fund to purchase a replacement truck for the highway shop, not to exceed a total cost of $25,000.00. Motion carried. 8. Department Reports a. Commissioner: Next week, the Highway Commissioner and three Highway Committee members will attend winter road school in LaCrosse, WI. Discussed a project on Hwy J and Hwy N in 2027, estimated just short of $250,000-$260,000, which would be split 90/10 percentagewise. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) must now give permission before pertinent issues can be handled (such as water issues involving ditches); whereas in past years, the County was able to immediately handle those issues. Put in for bridge repair on Hwy I and an STP project on Hwy H. County Road projects are kept around $2-3 million. Potential project on Hwy H from Sheep Ranch Road to Dardis Lake Lane. b. Airport: Activities include plowing, keeping runways open, and maintaining the fence. Still waiting on a previously ordered loader truck being held in Wausau, and there have been no updates. The Buildings Fixtures and Improvements (BFI) project was finished about one month ago, regarding discontinued personal property tax. Each hangar owner has an updated survey, as the entire airport was surveyed and updated. c. Dams: All dams are in good shape and have been maintained. d. Highway Crew: There have been 21 winter storms so far in 2025-2026. Discussion on salt and sand amounts remaining for winter road maintenance. e. Fleet and Facilities: There will be two new Freight Liner trucks delivered in February this year for use on County roads. The two body builds for those trucks are from Scott’s Truck and Trailer for Universal Equipment. The expense for those builds went over the borrowed amount at just under $6,000 difference. Discussion on timeline and estimated borrowing. 9. Vouchers: Motion Spacek/Houdek to approve the vouchers for September 2025, $107,693.07; October 2025, $114,669.14; November 2025, 3,060,971.64; and December 2025, $911,695.29. Motion carried. 10. Set Next Meeting Date: March 4, 2026. Will not meet on February 4 unless necessary. 11. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 10:17 a.m. by Larry Palecek, Committee Chairperson . Respectfully Submitted by Meredith Hueckman, County Clerk.