Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1896-03-03
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Good Roads.

Good Roads. -
: Better roads without additional
taxes is what we all want and we can
have. We pay j.. enough road and
bridge tax to have the best roads th;.t
can be constructed from materials St
hand.
The reason our town supervisors and
road oversesers are not able to make
Arstclass roads, is that they have
never been able to apply enough work,
in one season, on any piece OF road,
to place it in first class condition both
as to shape Of road bed and material.
All they can do is to make it passable
for the time being. One seasons wear
leaves it as bad as it was before each
years road tax has to be spread over
the roads of the whole town and al
though they are doing their very best
they cannot make a ten dollar bill
can cover a fifty dollar job. Ask any
town board or road overseer and they
will tell you that, if we could apply,
i've times as much labor in one sea-
son as we do now, we could have our
roads in such excellent condition that
it would require very little work and
expense to keep them in repair in
the future.
In the town of Willmar we are pay
ing, at present, II mills road and
bridge tax. This is high road tax
but think the town board will tell us
that they need every cent of it in or
der to keep our roads pass able.
There is more travel over the roads
in this town than any parts Of the
county and we have poor material for
making roads, unless we could spend
enough money to have gravel.
Now suppose we could take, say a
five thousand dollars and apply it on
our roads in one season this would
be less than half our road and
bridge tax for the next ten years.
This would place our roads in such
shape that very little more than the
poll tax and the regular labor tax
would be required to keep them in re-
pair. This can be done under chap
ter 3O2 Laws Of 1895, which provides
that more than of the land owners
lying within one mile of the road tC
be laid out, may petition the county
commissioners for the laying out of {
road either in two or more towns o.
within the limits of one town, an(
either for new road or over thu
route of an old travelled road. Tn,
commissioners appoint three men tt
view the proposed road and report al
to the method Of constructing the roat
cut, grade, bridges, etc. After sucl
such road established by tn
board, the contracts for constructin.
the road is put at public auction, il
sections as decided by the board
The commiss toner's issue a bond t.
cover the whole cost, same as in ditc]
proceedings, and withhold out of tn
road and bridge tax, on all land with
in one mile of the road, enough to pa,
one tenth and interest during the mex
ten years. The reason our road
are in poor condition is not that W
do not spend enough money on Their
but that we try to give them all a Goa
each year and consequently have t.
make it so thin that it is worn OF
.ong before we are ready to put on tn
next.
l.. Then $40 a year applied on a ba
piece of road may be practicabl
wasted as far as permanent improve
meDt is concerned while $50. applied ;
once might put the same piece of roa
in permanent good condition,
Yours Truly,
ASLAK O. NASSET.