Everyone wants to be first, Bill King said Tuesday morning of quickly growing grass in rights of way along properties of rural Allen Countians.
With 820 miles of rock roads and another 180 miles surfaced with asphalt, all are going to have to wait their turn, he added.
“We’re focusing on cemeteries right now with Memorial Day coming up,” a week from Monday, he told commissioners. “We eventually will get to everyone.”
By the time that happens, first with a single pass along roads and a second mowing to fence lines, King said 15 to 20 weeks would have elapsed.
The 1,000 miles of county roads mean 2,000 miles of mowing with a single pass and several times more when it is done more comprehensively.
“Sometimes it takes six to eight passes to mow all of the right-of-way along an asphalt road,” King noted.
The county has seven tractors dedicated to grass control, three with a combination of blades totaling 10 feet, a fourth of 15 feet. Three others have boom mowers used to clear vegetation around bridges, signs and other obstacles, as well as prune trees and brush.
While right-of-way grass is cut twice a season, county crews pay more attention to intersections, with safety of motorists their primary goal.
A few farmers do their own mowing and some ask that grass in rights of way be left to grow, so they can bale it for livestock feed.
“We’re always happy to let farmers cut and bale the grass,” King quipped.
The approach to mowing has changed over the years, he added, recalling when tractors didn’t have cabs and were equipped with four-foot mowers. Today’s have air-conditioned cabs, an advantage that provides some comfort for operators but is more a safety measure, King said.
“When you mow as much as we do, and every day, you’re going to stir up a lot of bumble bees,” he said. “They can be a real nuisance,” and multiple stings can cause some people severe health problems. Also, cabs protect operators from rocks and other objects propelled at high rates of speed by mower blades.
IN OTHER business, commissioners:
— Learned that an analysis of Iola and Allen County ambulance services being done by the state Board of Emergency Medical Services should be ready for local consumption by mid- to late-June. County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said the Bowlus Fine Arts Center might be used for the presentation. The assembly room in the courthouse basement will hold about 125 people, which might not be enough, she said.
The studies were ordered by the joint committee appointed by county and Iola commissioners to study how ambulance service is delivered locally and how it might be merged or made more efficient and less costly.
— Gave their blessings for the American Cancer Society’s Relay Life fundraiser on the courthouse lawn July 20.
