County council reviewing Texas gate policy

By Jamie Rieger
A request from the Pinhorn area had County of Forty Mile councilors discussing the maintenance of the 98 Texas gates located throughout the area.
“A couple of counties, like us, the Texas gates are paid for by the installer. In Cypress County, once they are in, they take ownership and take care of the maintenance,” said public works manager, Keith Bodin.
With 98 Texas gates in the county, councilors addressed who is responsible for cleaning them out and maintaining them. Some are getting filled with dirt and gravel from graders that pass over and the request indicated that the county should be responsible for cleaning them out.
“They do get filled up by the grader. If we clean them up, we wouldn’t have to be doing it every year,” said Coun. Craig Widmer.
“If the grader is putting stuff in there, I wouldn’t be happy about it either,” said Coun. Steve Wikkerink.
Bodin noted that a Hydro Vac would be the best solution for cleaning them out, at a cost of approximately $400 per gate.
“We can’t do it just for Pinhorn. If we do them all, that’s costing us close to $40,000,” said Coun. Chantel Timmons.
Coun. Ron Harty added, “Not all of them would need it and this isn’t something that would be getting done every year. You do it and it may be good for 10 years.”
Bodin also said that the use of Texas gates cuts down on the cost of fencing.
“Also, we need clauses in the policy for things like when property changes ownership, that the next owner needs to be informed,” he said.
Council decided that they would re-address the issue once they can purchase a hydro-vac and update their policy.