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Humboldt County prepares for brush, weed control work

DAKOTA CITY — The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors received quotes for brush and weed control along the county’s roads at Monday’s meeting. Previously the work had been done by the Secondary Roads Department.

Vegetation Management Solutions, of Rolfe, quoted $49.50 per road mile for weed control, and $54.90 per road mile for brush control. The quotes do not include costs for chemicals. There are more than 700 miles of right-of-way in the county.

Company owner Rich Welter said the company started out spraying in Humboldt County in the 1970s. From there it expanded into five counties. In the 1980s, it gradually switched over to mosquito spraying eventually covering about 15 percent of the state under the name Mosquito Control of Iowa.

Supervisor Erik Underberg said in addition to thistles one of the other more prominent weeds is giant ragweed. He asked how they could treat both.

“We can build equipment to accommodate those areas,” Welter said.

He said they could do the work in June and additional applications in the fall.

“We will do a little bit of math and get a comparison and I think we will be making a decision on this pretty much sooner than later,” Underberg said.

The county currently does not have a weed commissioner.

The board also accepted quotes from Don Reffer with Brush and Weed Control Specialist, Algona, to remove brush from 25 drainage ditches for an estimate not to exceed $31,750. The work will be paid for by the individual drainage districts. Portions of the county are done in a three year rotation. This season the northeast third of the county will be done.

The board set a date of March 26 for a public hearing on the secondary roads 2019 construction program.

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