A Cass County resident will receive restitution for his damaged mailbox, despite missing the deadline to make a complaint.

Cass County road commissioners heard from resident Roger Sult last Thursday, who said he had a mailbox and railing that was torn up twice this winter from road plows.

Sult told the commissioners that the railing was torn off and so was the box.

The resident said he put them back up and then they were gone. Sult asked the commissioners for a new mailbox after reporting it earlier this month but didn’t get a response.

Sult said now he has a renter in the house, and he has to put up a new mailbox. He said the railing had been placed near the box so no one could go over a bank that was behind it.

Road Chairman LeRoy Krempec told Sult that the commission has a policy that damaged mailboxes have to be reported by May 1. He said it wasn’t reported before then, there is nothing the commission can do. Krempec said the policy was adopted in 2002.

Sult asked where the policy was posted and was told on the road commission’s website. The man said he did not have a computer. He said he was sorry he didn’t get to the road meeting soon enough and that the public is not informed about getting any restitution.

Commissioner Clifford Poehlman agreed with the resident that he does have a problem and that it would be taken under advisement. Krempec agreed to contact Sult about the matter to make restitution.

Later in the meeting, county commissioner Roseann Marchetti, District 4-Republican, said she received a call from a driver who broke a rim on his vehicle after hitting a pothole and has a $106 claim to submit. The matter will be taken under advisement she was told.

Krempec questioned why the grass was tall on Christiana Lake Road in Mason Township. He said for some reason the grass is still high.

Manager Steve Lucas said the road workers do a good job, but the grass got tall and it is a problem this year. He said there is a different mower the workers are using and that they are behind in their mowing. He said they will catch up and that a contractor was hired to mow the local roads.  The road commission will do the primary roads. This method started this week.

Finally, was announced that Gregg Bowerson was hired as the superintendent of operations who replaced Michael Harris when left the county for another job.

Lucas also reported that he attended a Milton Township meeting and discussed the intersection of Gumwood Road and Redfield Road where there is a jog. He said the intersection at Redfield Road is a 45-degree angle. He said there are accidents there but are mostly rear-end collisions with none of them being major. He said there are three options to improve the intersection such as 1. a road alignment with a four-way stop, 2. a roundabout, or 3) a dual roundabout with one at each intersection.

He said the costs range from $500,000 to $879,000,  which would include property purchases but that the road commission doesn’t have the funds.