Month: July 2025

You may be asking yourself, “why so much dust from the roads this year?” “Why isn’t the Township getting dust control applied like previous years?” You are not alone. Other Wabana Township residents have asked the same thing. The answer, unfortunately, is because it has become too costly.  The costs for road maintenance have increased significantly in the last three years, and to avoid a significant increase in the Township tax levy, a reduction in the amount of dust control was proposed at the March 2025 Township Annual Meeting and approved by the residents at the meeting. It was agreed to apply dust control to Wakeman Bay Road only versus all the township roads as was done in the past. Wakeman Bay Road is the most travelled road in the township has 5 other roads that flow into it.   The township maintains 7.15 miles of roads and below is a summary of past and current costs: Dust Control: 2022 = $10,500    2023 = $13,300    2024= $17,700     2025 = invoice has yet to be received but Itasca County has estimated that cost per mile will be higher than 2024 (Note: Itasca County has made changes to their dust control coverage as well due to rising costs).  Snowplowing: 2022, 2023, 2024 = $4,300 per season     2025 = $6,800 for the season       2026 = $11,600 for the season Monthly Road Grading:   2022 – 2024 = $120.00 per hour    2025 = $135.00 per hour Yearly Road Maintenance / Repairs:  Township budgets $15,000 annually So, in order to maintain a total road budget of around $45,000 per year, it was decided to reduce the amount of dust control. However, there is a simple, free solution to reducing the dust that gets kicked up when driving – slow down! Studies have shown that for every 10 mph that your speed is reduced, there is a 50% decrease in the dust that is generated.  Not only does reducing your speed cause less dust to go flying around, it keeps your vehicle cleaner.