Bird Lane area residents' road complaints will continue for at least a while longer. Humboldt County Commissioners declined an offer of a four-acre lot inside the subdivision in exchange for work by the county road department to bring the roads up to standard so they could be accepted into the county-maintained road system.
County residents who live on a road that hasn't been accepted into the county maintained road system often find themselves between a rock and a hard place. County policy requires that roads be brought up to county standards before they can be accepted into the county-maintained road system - and along any road being considered, 60 percent of the property should have occupied residences.
Even in situations where property developers put in roads in compliance with county standards, waiting for the additional 60 percent occupancy standard can sometimes take decades, during which time even roads that were originally up to county standards can decline to a point they no longer meet that standard.
Former Road Superintendent John Russum inspected of the Bird Lane area in March of 2008 and identified what would have to be done to bring the roads into compliance with county standards. The next month, the county commissioners voted to accept the roads in question if they were brought up to standard.
In 2011, Road Superintendent Ben Garrett met with Louis Kelly who was still requesting the roads be accepted into the county maintained system, however, they were still not up to county standard and that is still the situation in 2014.
Bird Lane subdivision includes six separate roads and the entire subdivision has 64 percent occupancy with additional construction underway.
Property owners feel stymied.
The road department estimate of the cost for what would need to be done to the roads is $56,216.
Kelly proposed that the county complete the needed road work in exchange for a four-acre lot in the subdivision. A community member said the land might be a good place for a park.
Garrett wondered whether the road department might be able to pump water out of the pond for road maintenance. Commissioner Jim French had earlier asked about water rights on the water in the pond and was told it was just an old sand pit and water seeps in from an underground source. French said if the road department started pumping water out of the pond, water rights would become an issue.
Commissioner Marlene Brissenden asked whether the county had ever done something like this - accepting a property exchange for road work. The answer was no.
County Administrator Bill Deist noted that the county is not in the parks business, however in a shared-cost agreement with the city, the county participates in the cost of community parks and recreation opportunities. He noted that Gold Country Estates had long-ago given the county land for a park, and the county gave it back.
Deist and several of the commissioners were concerned over liability issues in relation to the existing pond. "We'd have the responsibility and liability to keep kids and critters out of it," commented French.
Garrett said, "The county had a situation like this before but turned away from it for that specific reason - liability."
The land-exchange offer was declined and Kelly said he would have to discuss what to do now.[[In-content Ad]]
