Commission Votes To Keep Road Open

One of the first items on the agenda for Monday’s regular county commission meeting was the closure of a portion of New Hope Church Road, and much of the standing-room-only crowd was there to speak to that issue.

Commission Chair Gene Trammell opened the public hearing inviting those in favor of the road closure to speak. Robby Kelly, attorney for the applicant, Peter Jones, said the road is in bad shape and has not been maintained in quite a while. He said there is little traveling on the road, and that the only property owner it would land lock has agreed to sell his one acre to Mr. Jones.

Mr. Kelly told commissioners if they would close the road, it would save the county money as the county would no longer be expected to maintain the road. It is rarely used, he said, and it would make good business sense to close the road.

No one else spoke in favor of the closure.

Ben Vaughn, an attorney from Monroe County, spoke against the closure, saying his family owns and cuts timber on nearly 400 acres, that their access would be limited. He said the roads were originally created for farming and timber, and encouraged commissioners not to limit access. He mentioned fire and beetle infestation both as reasons to keep the access open.

Buck Starr spoke next saying the road is used daily. He also said that it is the only way in or out to some locations and that at least eight people in the area who are 70 or older, and expressed concern about emergency vehicle response being slower if the road was closed.

Elaine Freeman said the road has not ceased to be used by the public, which is a legitimate reason to close a road. She said it gets substantial use, and mentioned the Civil War era cemetery at the church that people from all over come to visit. She also said the church is growing, and access doesn’t need to be limited.

She also expressed concern about the access for emergency vehicles, and said abandonment is not in the interest of the public.

Alysa Anderson from the U.S. Forest Service spoke against closing the road which would restrict access for the people who use the National Forest. She said it would also increase the time for personnel and contractors to get in for work they do as well as in the case of wild fire or a search and rescue mission. She said the Forest Service is all for keeping it open.

Other residents also spoke to the beauty of the road, and assured commissioners it is used.

Planning administrator Sherry Braley said that her recommendation was to leave the road open.

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Mr. Kelly said when he was at Mr. Jones’ home for more than an hour not a living soul had used the road. He again told commissioners they would not have to maintain it.

Commissioner Craig Salmon said his little car went through the road with no problem, speaking to its condition.

Mr. Jones said it is in such good shape because he has been maintaining it.

After the public comments, commissioner Carl Pennamon, said that it is in his district, and he made a motion to deny the request to close the road. The motion passed unanimously, and the road will remain open.

During the regular part of the commission meeting, the commissioners and public saw a PowerPoint presentation on staffing and budgets that County Manager Karen Degges said was designed to provide a statistical history and frankly to combat information being disseminated by the Taxpayer’s Watchdog Group (TWG).

Ms. Degges said there is a lot of discussion that the county keeps adding staff, and that is a misconception, she said. She showed historical data to show the county staffing, particularly in the commissioners’ office and planning and zoning. In her historical look, she also took into account when temporary workers were used to offset staff needs.

She said the most money was spent in 2008, when the staffing for those services cost $284,000. She showed that staffing for the same offices would cost the county about $247,500 in 2015.

She also said that 20 years ago the county had 121 employees, and in 2014 it was down to 109. She said it will increase this year because the sheriff had to add staff to take on policing the city of Monticello.

She also tracked the budget figures for each year, both revenues and expenditures.

After the presentation, the county continued with business, and agreed to take the low bid for patching. The county will mark the holes to be patched by the contractor who will come in and do the patching.

Commissioners also received a comprehensive mid-year review of finances, presented by Mike Benton, finance director. Mr. Benton showed how almost all departments were doing well, and talked about where adjustments would have to be made.

At the end of the regular meeting, the commissioners went into closed session to discuss personnel and litigation.