Town OKs road contract with county

The Belgium Town Board unanimously approved a road work contract through 2021 with Ozaukee County last week.

An agreement through the Guaranteed Work Partnership program requires the town to hire the Ozaukee County Highway Department for 85% of its three-year average for road maintenance work.

This year, that translates to $258,000, up $1,000 from last year.

In exchange, the county provides a 10% discount on rental costs for equipment.

“We get a discount on the equipment,” Supr. Bill Janeshek said. “They can’t discount the wages.”

The town picks out what it wants done, Janeshek said.

The program began in 2013, replacing the Town Road Aid program, which funneled money from the state through the counties to towns.

“Every county in the state basically dried that up,” Town Chairman Tom Winker said.

Winker, also a county supervisor, helped develop the Guaranteed Work Partnership Program with state Rep. Rob Brooks.

“It’s good for them to budget. They know they’ve got X amount of dollars coming in so they don’t have to raise taxes,” Janeshek said.

The new contract raises the price $2 per ton on asphalt and gravel by 25% to 30% that the county provides to the town. The town bought both before the increases.

Winker said gravel costs increased because oil has been refined so well that “there’s not enough dirty oil,” making road tar difficult to find.

“It’s very convenient to have the Highway Department work on our roads,” Janeshek said. “We have a very good road system in Belgium, something the township should be proud of.”

The program has saved the town $140,000 in the last three years, according to county records.