Penalties for commercial truck drivers using non-commercial roadways may be getting much steeper if Lyon County Commissioners approve a new penalty in the coming weeks.
During discussions with Lyon County Engineer Wayne Scritchfield as part of their regular action meeting Thursday, commissioners discussed upping the county’s current penalty for such offenses, which is currently $75. The discussions came after Scritchfield and Lyon County Undersheriff John Koelsch noted they had received several calls voicing concerns about an uptick of commercial traffic on non-commercial paved roads in recent weeks.
Koelsch says there were three main roadways that were seeing an issue.
Nothing has been decided as of yet, however, the likely plan, at least based on Thursday’s discussions, would be to institute a fine of $1,000 for any offenses, which Koelsch believes would be a substantial deterrent.
Koelsch also says the issue needs to be addressed both for safety concerns and the integrity of infrastructure, as most non-commercial roads are not designed to handle the weight of commercial vehicles.
Lyon County Legal Counsel Molly Priest is currently drafting a potential policy on the matter and will present the item to commissioners at a later date.
In other business Thursday, commissioners approved the purchase of a recycled railroad tank car from Gateway Pipe for just over $18,000 at the request of Scritchfield. The item was originally listed at just over $33,000 and was set to be purchased through the Railroad Yard; however, Scritchfield found an alternative and presented that for commission approval instead.
Commissioners also approved Scritchfield’s request to purchase 10 grader tires from Kansas Land Tire for just over $12,500.
Commissioners also received the latest quarterly update on operations from CareArc.
Lyon County Commissioners are scheduled to reconvene for their next regular action meeting next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
