Highway Engineer

Brad Wentz - County Highway Engineer

The County Highway Engineer and the County Highway System he/she administers affect the lifestyle of every citizen in the State of Minnesota. His/her management of the County Highway System greatly affects the level of mobility the residents of this state enjoy.

Minnesota Counties began hiring highway engineers in 1913, at the insistence of the State's Highway Commission. Most of these early engineers were land surveyors and railroad engineers. In 1921, the position of County Highway Engineer was first put into law. This law established a two year term of office and was later changed to a four year term in the 1950s. Legislation requiring that County Highway Engineers be registered as professional engineers was adopted in 1933.

Becker County Engineers: Harry w. Teaque 1913-1922; Paul J. Grunstad 1922-1929; Edward G. Chilton 1929-1955; Vernon L. Johnson 1955-1958; Carl C. Nelson 1958-1967; Vernon T. Korzendorer 1967-1979; Monte L. Berend 1979-1987; David S. Heyer 1987 - 2000; Bradley C. Wentz 2000 - Present.

Minn. Stat. Section 163.07 mandates that the county board of each county is to appoint a county highway engineer who shall have charge of the highway work of the county and the forces employed thereon.

In county government, the county engineer must be regarded as a department head. He must assume and fulfill the responsibilities of management in the same manner that would occur in private and corporate business. The county engineer has federal and state requirements, Action Plans, state guidelines, and resource controls to cope with in carrying out the duties of the office and assuring the competent performance of the Highway Department.

The Becker County highway system consists of 677 miles of road ranking Becker County 13th in system size of the 87 counties of Minnesota. This highway system is made up of 467 miles on the County State Aid Highway (CSAH) system, funded by state gasoline fuel tax and vehicle registration feed, and 210 miles on the County road system which is funded by local property taxes. The CSAH's can be readily identified as they are numbered less than 100, while the County Roads are numbered greater than 100.