Commissioners say work underway to improve roads department, increase efficiency

​YORK – This week, Commissioners Daniel Grotz and Andy Bowman said they have been meeting with York County Highway Superintendent Harvey Keim to talk about changes and improvements for the roads department, to increase efficiency and improve road conditions.

“We have had an increased number of calls from residents about the county roads,” Grotz said, “and some things have come out of that. We want to bring attention to our conversations and tell the board what we have been talking about. We have been talking about material management concerns about large reserve piles on roads. We have also been addressing road profiles and communicating with machine operators about keeping field driveways and yard entrance open. We have also been talking about building a different culture in the roads department, to have better interaction between the board, the department and the public.”
“We are also considering projects where there are problems, to get them done in a timely manner,” Bowman said, “such as a sinking culvert, cleaning out problem culverts, etc. We want to create a way to address these types of projects in a timely way, keeping a priority list and getting them done. We also have talked about making sure roads are safe and passable. The culture piece – this is a constant thing in all businesses and it needs to be here also.
“We do now have a tracking system in 75% of all the vehicles which provides greater safety for workers and it also helps in making sure equipment is maintained when it should be. It’s also to increase efficiency,” Bowman said.
“Inconsistency is an issue,” said Commissioner LeRoy Ott, who said he has been receiving an increasing amount of calls from constituents concerned about the roads. “Some roads are great and then the next road is not.”
“We talked about that, as well as more training for operators,” Bowman said.
“We will keep having these conversations, with Harvey and with the board,” Grotz said.
“The intent is create a better plan and provide more transparency,” Bowman said.
“Having 1,100 miles out there is a daunting job,” said Commissioner Randy Obermier. “It’s not an easy task. Can it get better? We sure hope so, but there is a lot that has to be done.”