In the February 4th meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, two annual resolutions regarding the Secondary Roads Department were approved.

County Engineer Josh Sebern says that the rate of compensation for fence and temporary easement rates are some of the things that he has to look at each year, and get set up for when those would be needed during projects. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio why those two items are considered annually, and how they decide what to set them at.

“Property acquisition and stuff like that, it’s a sensitive area, and the federal government and the state and local government all recognize that. So this is part of the process. We set the rates that we will pay for that year. And it’s based on local contractors for fencing prices. It’s based on land sales over the previous year. So that’s where those numbers come from.”

Sebern explains that for 2025, the rate of compensation for fence is $90 per rod (a unit of measurement usually coming to 16.5 feet, the distance between posts) and $250 for corner assembly, both of which are comparable to the surrounding counties. He adds that the temporary easement is set at 25 percent, which is higher than what other counties have, as the minimum that can be set per the Iowa Department of Transportation is 10 percent.