By MaryHelen Swanson

The Chisago County commissioners took a trip around the county last week to get an idea of how bad the roads are.

Before the tour, the board reviewed the countyís transportation plan with engineer Bill Malin.

Malin gave them a list of the 15 worst roads, only three of them, portions of CSAH (county state aide highway) 12, CSAH 7 and CSAH 24 are funded and set for work in 2006.

The unfunded roads have a price tag of $10.5 million.

Commissioner Ben Montzka had questioned how the highway department determines which roads will be repaired. His concern was that roads with lower usage are getting money when roads with higher usage are not being addressed.

Malin said it was the departmentís charge to provide access to all parts of the county. He also said the choice of roads to improve depends partly on condition of the roads.

Some of the roads in the 5-year transportation plan have not been improved since the 70s.

It was also noted that the state had tested 24 countiesís roads and of them, Chisago had the worst.

The state is working on another set of counties.

As the commissioners prepared to head out on the road tour, it was noted that no one from the public, including reporters could go along on the bus (Heartland Express vehicle) as the countyís insurance would not cover them.

Commissioner Montzka protested. He believed it was a violation of the open meeting law to not allow the public on the bus.

Because of this, Montzka did not go on the tour that day.

Following the meeting he told the Post Review that he intended to take a map and make the tour on his own.

In other business last week, the county board:

ï Set 6:30 p.m. March 15 as the date for a public hearing on the countyís Capital Improvement Plan which could include bonding up to $15.5 million for road improvements.

ï Received a check for $162,366.11 from Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. This was a grant from the federal government for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) meant to provide better access to voting for the disabled. Auditor Dennis Freed had applied for the grant.

ï Approved the purchase of a Polaris Fusion 600 snowmobile for $6,708.44.

Chisago County Housing Redevelopment Development Authority director Chris Eng was present to talk about the 2006 plan for economic and housing development. A detailed story will come next week.