A user-fee program to help limit dust on the county's roads could undergo a price increase this year.
Keith Browning, the county's director of Public Works, told the Douglas County Commission Monday that he probably will recommend charging 50 cents per linear foot, compared to 40 cents last spring.
Browning on Wednesday will ask the commission to continue the 15-year-old dust control program, and commissioners are expected to discuss setting the fees. The program will be a walk-on item at Wednesday's 6:35 p.m. meeting because Browning said he cannot wait until the next meeting, which will be March 19.
Last year there were was a controversy about the county's decision to switch from calcium chloride, which is more expensive to apply, to magnesium chloride. Browning said some people thought the new material didn't work as well. However, he said, other variables, such as the dry weather, altered the effectiveness of the dust-preventer.
"I think it has to do with the dry season," he said. "I think the magnesium did a good job, and I'm convinced the results would have been same with the calcium."
Before the material was applied, Browning said, his department used its own trucks and even hired water trucks to wet down the rock roads.
Commissioner Jere McElhaney said he has been pleased with the dust control on roads near his farmland on East 1450 Road and East 1500 Road, south of Lawrence.
To participate in this year's program, applications must be submitted by April 4.
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