39-1503.

Highway superintendent or road unit system counties; county boards; duties.

It shall be the duty of the county board in commissioner-type counties having a county highway superintendent and in township-type counties having adopted a county road unit system to:

(1) Give notice to the public of the date set for public hearings upon the proposed county highway program of the county highway superintendent for the forthcoming year by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper published in the county or, if none is published in the county, in a legal newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice shall clearly state the purpose, time, and place of such public hearings;

(2) Adopt a county highway annual program no later than March 1 of each year which shall include a schedule of construction, repair, and maintenance projects and the order of priority of such projects to be undertaken and carried out by the county and a list of equipment to be purchased and the priority of such purchases, within the limits of the estimated funds available during the next twelve months;

(3) Adopt standards to be applied in road and bridge repair, maintenance, and construction;

(4) Advertise for and take and let bids for all or any portion of the county road work when letting bids, except that when the Department of Transportation takes bids on behalf of the county, the county shall have authority to permit such bids to be taken and let at the offices of the department in Lincoln, Nebraska; and

(5) Cause investigations, studies, and inspections to be made, hold public hearings, and do all other things necessary to carry out the duties imposed upon it by law.