Elk County Roads

[Teresa]

Take a breath Patrick.. ....Take a breath, and enjoy your gravel .. LOL


(((Can I put my Grandma's name on the bridge list? huh?? Huh?? Can I ?? )))
Thelma.. What a wonderful name for a bridge.. 

[Maude]

Stay in there PEP, what you are saying is the best things I have heard from anyone.
Maude

[Teresa]

Ohhh there is no doubt that we need Patrick in here.
For many reasons....
I have people telling  me that they are now logging on just so they can read what Patrick has to say next..


Don't give up PEP... hang in there and keep at it!

At least for now.............

[pepelect]

OMG the idiots came by in their $200000 yellow pos and graded all my new gravel off in to one of those damn winrows on the side.  After they hauled more gravel in their nice air conditioned 10 wheeler in ten trips than any one 18 wheeler could have ever hauled in five,  they pulled up all the dirt and grass from one side and scraped it across the road to the other. 

Its July.  It hasn't rained in three weeks.  This is the dry time.   The time you clean out the ditches not grade the road you just put rock on.   How was the compaction with absolutely no moisture what so ever.  Don't worry about lifting the blade at the low spots just hammer down and keep moving the crap down the road.  Never set up a transet and check.  Don't check.

Grab a clue.   

No Alex I will take "Please stop grading my road" for $1000.  If you clean the ditch the water runs down it.  If you build a dam it will stop the water and run it down the road. If you crown the road crown it from the highest point in the road to the lowest point in the ditch.  If you leave a big ass pile of rocks you have built a dam. If you stop half way you have half ass the road. 

Next week how to boil water.............

[Catwoman]

You know, Patrick, you'd make a great writer for the Elk County soap opera, "As the Stomach Turns"...you've got the gift! 

[Marcia Moore]

     Okay.  We have kept quiet until now, but can no longer hold our tongue.  Patrick, you said what we've been saying for years!  Elk County just keeps dumping more gravel, and the next big rain comes along and washes it all down the creek.  So they dump more rock on, wait a while, then repeat.  And if there is a problem in the road, they do not try to figure out why the problem exists, they just cover it with gravel, hoping it will go away!  Then that gravel washes away, too.  Elk County has needed a road foreman with some common sense for several years now.  Hopefully the next one will qualify.  
    As for the brush along the roads, it gets worse each year.  Don't they realize it would cost a lot less to just take care of a certain number of miles each year, rather than wait till they all need it and the cost is unbearable.  Have they spent so much money on gravel they can't afford to take care of the brush any longer?  There are roads out there on the mail route that two cars cannot pass without one of them stopping, due to the trees.  I'm sure glad most of the Severy mail route is in Greenwood County.  As for the roads on the mail route, there are three overseers.  Twin Groves Township takes excellent care of their roads, Fall River Township is next, and Elk County is absolutely the worst - they don't seem to have a clue.

[pepelect]

Rudy could you clean up my posts and still give me the byline?  I woruld need a new computer.  This one is way slow and only types 50 words a minute.

[L Hendricks]

Okay - I am not disagreeing with what most of you are saying... please be patient. The head guy finally has left.  We are currently looking for his replacement - I do think you need one road boss, someone with experience running a crew and knowledge how to run equipment.  If anyone here is interested in the job, please fill out an application.  I am not interested in promoting from within - however I am one vote.  I agree with everyone on cleaning the ditches... due to mismanagment, no management, whatever, we are still trying to get culverts replaced that have been bad for several years.  I am hopefully Dst 2 crew can get started on some ditching...

Brush spraying - this spring, we asked Dick to implement this using the weed sprayer truck... there was some reluctancy - now we are spraying brush - not a lot, but Billy tries to spray a tank or so a day, before it's too hot or too windy... he is trying not to spray near growing crops and houses also...

Several meetings ago, we asked the guys to stop using gravel as a bandaid and fix the water problem first... I don't think it is totally being implemented.  We have argued back in forth about the windrow on the side of the road.... There are some that think you need it, others don't... Basically I think you need some common sense and water flows downhill... It is going to take time to change this climate also...

Budget constraints... we have $60K left in our budget for an unplanned expenses... that is if everything stays the same the rest of the year.... we are already looking at having to raise the road budget next year to account for fuel costs, rock costs, and personel costs... We still have the river road closed to Elk Falls, and may or may not get it open this year depending on the cost...

I also would encourage everyone to run for County Comm, it maybe too late to file this year but you can always do a write in campaign... I know I am not perfect and I am sure someone else could do a lot better job... or you can continue to vent or ask questions and I will try to get those problems resolved.... these roads didn't get this way overnight although I will agree they have gotten a lot worse in the last 2 years... Please be patient...There are 700 miles of roads in this county, so in your little area, it may seem like nothing is happening... I would say that the mail carriers, bus drivers and trash haulers probably get to experience the worst of it

[DanCookson]

Don't beat yourself up Liz.  I think you do a good job.  It isn't like it is your butt sitting in the "200000 yellow pos"!!!

Always tough to buck the trend.  Maybe next foreman will have knowledge and ability to impart it on the staff.

[W. Gray]

Elk County began with a shade under 1,350 miles of surveyed section roads.

If there are 700 miles of roads now being maintained, Elk County has abandoned 51.9% of its surveyed road mileage since organization.