Residents of eastern Morgan County could soon start seeing heavy machinery and equipment moving into rural areas soon. The Morgan County Commissioners approved a Construction Engineering Services Agreement with locally-based Hutchison Engineering on Monday. The agreement makes Hutchison Engineering the point company for the county when it comes to road usage agreement with the Lincoln Land Wind Project and Apex Clean Energy.
Morgan County Road Engineer Matt Coultas says that Hutchison will become the county’s eyes and ears on the road use agreement during the construction phase of the Lincoln Land Wind Project. Coultas says that Hutchison was chosen for their previous and current work in at least two projects. He says their familiarity with these projects on their scale and in their operation made them an ideal choice.
Coultas says that Apex may begin their work directly after the holiday season, with some work beginning possibly as early as January 4th. Hutchison representatives will be on site for the road portion of the construction phase at all times. They will be responsible for testing soil compaction, new road construction, road reconstruction including widening of some rural roads, culvert replacement, and correcting any damage that may possibly occur among other responsibilities. Coultas says Hutchison’s services will be billed to Apex and will not come out of the county’s road funds for the duration of the road use phase and engineering agreement.