“I don’t know what the problem is,” a man said at the recent Colburn town hall meeting. “I pay taxes.” The problem the town resident was voicing related to asking for gravel on a dead-end road that had 20 vehicles reportedly traveling it. Without the drainage provided by a gravel layer, rain turned the road to mush— and that was before 13 culverts were lost across Colburn on account of Tropical Storm Cristobal. Before the night was over, buried roadway fabric would be offered as a potential solution to help prevent culvert washouts, practically free of charge. The 13 culverts that washed out in Cristobal have so far cost Colburn town finances $33,042, although a 75 percent reimbursement was being hoped for from outside, which if received would bring the township culvert expenditures postwashout to $8,958. Meanwhile, another matter of interest also presented itself at the Tuesday meeting: a high mask exemption ratio.

While HIPPA law prohibits asking the reason for an uncovered face during the current statewide Governor’s mandate (and Colburn is a tightly run ship statute-wise), a total of 88 percent or else 15 of the 17 people present at the Tuesday, August 4 meeting were attending without face coverings, thereby implying a high percentage of people with breathing-related health issues that allowed for a mask exemption, spread across all adult age groups.

In line with said reality, however, social distancing rules were strictly applied at the Tuesday town meeting, with members of the Colburn town board themselves arrayed in a multi-table reverse “U” shape. Before long though, it was back to roads.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” the man said. “I pay taxes.” Effectively petitioning the board members for a redress of grievances in gravel not received, the man was told by Town Chairman Brad Hompe that the township’s gravel funds had been spent on “the emergency,” and that the board could make a motion to go over budget for this year if necessary, but that the current outlook meant there might not be gravel this year. In the meantime, there were potential ATV routes to talk about, four in total. Within the last month the town board chair had been approached by residents to have ATV routes made available within Colburn, prompting Hompe to look into the process.

In order for Colburn to have registered ATV routes, there needed to be a resolution from the town board, and shorter routes had a better chance of being approved in the long run. To that end and for convenience sake, one public attendee suggested they amend one of the routes, to better link up with Taylor County.

“It’s 400 feet more to Taylor County, he said of a route involving County H up to 157th Avenue. Most riders would take that route anyway to link up with the Taylor County trail system so that rather than create scofflaws it was better to accommodate. And there was more.

“If the bridge is disapproved, the whole route is,” another said of a route that went the long way around rather than straight ahead. And for the routes connecting various township businesses and attractions, another man had his own input.

“I think they should all be connected,” he said. “If you’re going to do three, why not four?” Each of the four proposed routes required a separate application, though, which meant that someone from the township would need to take the time out to fill it out. And there was the question of an amendment to consider: adding Highway S from 190th Avenue to County G into the proposed ATV routing system to link various town businesses and attractions close together. With a motion by Supervisor Kiel Morello seconded by Steve Sime, the amendment was approved. Then it was on to the roads, or else back.

“My recommendation is we get the patching done and submit for reimbursement so we can stay within our established road budget,” the Chairman said. With a non-culvert road bill topping $58,000 could be offset with LRIP grant money after completion, this latter funding to the sum of just over $29,000. “We’re running bare bones, down to the end of the year,” Hompe said of the roads budget. Meanwhile, the man who brought up taxes had a potential culvert washout reduction strategy: buried fabric placed underground and around culvert openings to stop excessive rainwater from taking out the underground road support. “It would wash away the top layer,” the man said of heavy rains, but after that the fabric would act as a damage control, potentially saving the township road repair money. Reportedly, there was a lot of said fabric on the man’s farm, and the town roads department could have it for a relatively inexpensive price. “We could look into it,” Hompe said, just before a motion was made by Morello and seconded by Sime to adjourn.

Colburn town meetings are generally held the first Tuesday of each month, junction of Highway S and G, just south of the Huron Tavern.

Photo by Joseph Back.