County Road Department

[Mom70x7]

So how many people showed up at the County Commission meeting to talk about the roads?

[Varmit]

Just curious.  Where is the deer ranch rd. and Perkins Blvd?  I don't remember any of the Elk County Roads getting that name when we were naming the roads.

I think he might be talking about Antler SE of Longton and Limestone N. of Howard.

So how many people showed up at the County Commission meeting to talk about the roads?

Do you think it really would have mattered??

[R.Shackelford]

So how many people showed up at the County Commission meeting to talk about the roads?

Maybe people would show up if the commissioners actually cared about what the people in this county think.  I can't remember the last time any of the commissioners went to the people and said "this is what we are thinking about doing, what do you think of this idea?"  Using the exuse that no one shows up to the meetings is nothing but an excuse.  By the way, why is it that the county workers are supposed to work so many hours a week to get insurance benefits yet the commissoners only have to meet twice a month and are still able to draw the same benefits?

[peanut]

Well you should stand out there and warn others of this danger because its too wet to address it any other way.

[srkruzich]

Well you should stand out there and warn others of this danger because its too wet to address it any other way.

Well sure thing.  I charge 150 a day.

[peanut]

thata boy

[M.MM]

Well, to start with, you have to be on the agenda to get a voice in at the comissioners meetings. And when you get on the agenda, you are timed on how long you can talk, and the comissioners will sometimes not answer your questions at all, and when they do, they are not always truthful with their answers. Anyway, you would get told that Mr. Lackey is the road boss and he handles those problems and they think he does a fine job, they are standing behind him! It's a shame that the guys that work in that department have to take the verbal abuse mr. road boss uses with them, and if you stand up for yourself, then you are history. If jobs were not so scarce these days, then the road department would be in a world of hurt for employees! Mr. road boss takes NO ones suggestions on anything, it's his way or you can hit the road. And he is not willing to show employees how to do things he wants done his way, he just gets rid of them if they don't figure it out, what a fine boss huh? Don't believe these alarming facts, just visit with some of the road department workers. And on the subject of Rock road being so awful and treacherous, there is an elderly lady that lives on that road whom only has a car to drive, and she told me that she has to go through Piedmont to hiway 400 to come to Howard. Well, she does not shop at Howard at this time because of all the extra miles she has to drive. She takes the back road to Eureka, and she can travel the Greenwood county roads just fine in her car.

[Mom70x7]

you have to be on the agenda to get a voice in at the commissioners meetings.

I thought they had an open forum, or an opportunity for people to talk.
Thought it was just the school board you had to schedule in advance.

[R.Shackelford]

Mom70x7, don't miss the forest for the trees. 

Regardless of how the meetings are conducted, M. has a point.  How long has the county been using the "bigger" rock?  How many people have voiced a complaint about it?  How much have the commissioners listened?  It shouldn't take people showing up at the meetings to change things.  Unless the commissioners live in a bubble which protects them from public opinion, I am sure they have heard the complaints.  While the issue of this thread may be just the roads, I think it is time we started looking at a broader picture.  Just within the last years our roads have deteriorated to the point that a person cannot safely travel them in a car.  And the only excuse we get is "well, its been wetter than ususal."  To that I say Bullshit!  Wet weather doesn't account for the lack of crowns or ditches or improper grading or, and this is a biggie, the misuse of funds.  For example, last year the county was $150,000. OVER budget, yet they still came up with money to purchase a crane.

This year, with our roads in dire need of repair, instead of hiring more employees for the road crew theres talk of purchasing a 4x4 pickup for the road boss.  What does it say about how they conduct business when Moline has 3 road crew members, Longton 3, yet Howard has (when you include Mr. Lackey) over 5 people working out of their shop?

Why is it that on days when it is raining and too wet to work on the roads we still see shops full of people or the road crew driving around "checking roads"?  Seems they "check" the same roads over and over again without any improvements being made?  Do they not remember where the bad roads are?  And if they are in the shops doing maintainence on these days, why is their equipment always breaking down?

I know several members of the roadcrew and know they need a paycheck, however I also know that sitting around in the office or simply driving around trying to look busy isn't in the best interest of the county.

Consider this, most Police Departments employ 1 officer per 1000 people within their jurisdiction, Elk county has 3000 residents and how many deputies??  5 or 6? 

Why is it that the road crew employees need to know how to drive a truck, grader, operate a backhoe etc. yet at the courthouse there is one person per job?  Why do we need 3 people at the tag office when there is only 1 actually working?  Whatever happened to mulittasking? 

Doing something simply because thats the way it has always been done isn't an excuse for finding a better way.

[Sarah]

There is a spot on Rd. 9 that is a huge wash out.  It was SO sloppy that you couldn't hardly get through it at all.  They brought in rock and dumped it and it was fine for a day or two, but then you put all the dump trucks, semi's, trash truck and other big trucks that fly down this road as fast as they possibly can and all it did was push the rock up and out and made ruts so deep that the bottom of my Suburban scrapes.  It's pretty bad and jerks you from side to side going through it since the ruts aren't straight.  I suppose they'll be down to grade it as soon as it dries up, but right now it is pretty bad.  I guarantee you you wouldn't be able to get through it in a car or low vehicle until it's fixed.