Transportation Improvements

Polk County is the largest, yet one of the most sparsely populated,

counties in the state. It has a fairly mountainous terrain.The lakes and

forests provide great fishing and hunting for many of its residents as

well as for people from outside the county. It gets some pretty rough

winters. It has the highest unemployment rate in the state. Both the

average age of its population and the percentage of people over age 65

are substantially higher than the state statistics.

Mainville, located on the eastern side of the county, is the county

seat.With a population of 15,000, it is the largest town in the county.

Many of the people in Mainville work for the hospital, for the town

school system, for the town government, or at the Big John's superstore

that is on the outskirts of town just beyond the town limits.The

largest employer in the county is a state correctional facility for female

offenders located in the southwestern part of the county.

The county is governed by an elected three-member board of

commissioners. They receive a minimal stipend for serving on the

board.The current members are Commissioners Thomas, Richardson,

and Harold. None of them are from Mainville; they all are from more

remote parts of the county. They don't want much to do with

Mainville, other than traveling there once a week for the commissioners'

meeting at the county office building. Both Commissioners

Thomas and Harold are retired. Commissioner Richardson lives on

the western edge of the county and is a foreman at Ye Olde Saw Mill

in the adjacent western county.

CASE QUESTIONS

1. What criteria should Zachary use to evaluate the projects?

2. What assumptions should he make?

3. What data and information should he gather, and how should he

go about gathering the data and information?

4. After he has evaluated each project against the evaluation criteria,

how should he