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(NewsDakota.com) – Stutsman County officials painted a bleak outlook of county roads Monday night during the first meeting of the Stutsman County Roads Task Force.

Flooding the last few years has damaged numerous roads and depleted the county’s money for road maintenance and repair.

“We’re definitely strapped for money,” said county commissioner Dale Marks. “We don’t have enough funds to deal with these roads.”

The Jamestown Chamber organized the task force to help educate the public about the roads issue in the county, and also seek solutions down the road. About 50 people attended the meeting at the Gladstone Inn and Suites, which is the first of several over the next year.

“We’re hoping this can be a way we can all understand what’s going on and why it’s happening,” said task force chairperson Pam Phillips.

Attendees heard presentations from and asked questions of Steve Thompson of Interstate Engineering, Stutsman County chief operating officer Casey Bradley, and county commissioners Dale Marks and David Schwartz.

The group also briefly discussed some ideas for the future, such as a county-wide sales tax to raise money for roads, a county-wide heavy vehicle use tax, or a $1 per acre tax on agriculture land, among many other possible solutions.

It was also brought up that if something is put to a vote in the future, county and city residents need to be on the same page and understand what’s good for the county is good for the city of Jamestown.

Phillips said the next step is to research some of the possible solutions. The task force listed three objectives for the next year on a handout at the meeting:
1. Identify roads that are in need of repair. Identify traffic flow on county and township roads; evaluate the need to repair certain roads based on priority.
2. Identify funding sources for County/Township/Incorporated City Road Repairs.
3. Explain the tax structure for each taxing entity in Stutsman County.