County Board debates Peak Road repairs
Members of the Saline County Board debated purchasing a section of Peak Road after local business owner Jimi Williams appealed to them to aid in repairing the road near her business.
Williams and her husband own and operate the Williams Pass ATV Park outside of Harrisburg in Independence Township. She had previously come to the board to ask them to take over ownership of Peak Road leading to her business in order to have the county assist in repairing the road as it leads to her business.
"There's a stretch of road where they [visitors] cannot pass," Williams said. "People come, and they don't come back."
The portion of Peak Road, Williams mentioned, causes such damage to cars and ATV equipment that many visitors don't return.
County Engineer Jeff Jones did not provide the cost to repair the road, but noted that the work would be "extensive."
According to Jones, most of the cost and difficulty would come from the solid rock underneath the road, and in expanding it. The land on either side of the road belongs to the National Forest, so it would be highly difficult to expand the road or dig ditches without breaching the forest area.
During her time before the board, Williams also noted that visitors to the ATV park come from across the country, specifically mentioning several visitors from Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri.
"This was built in Saline County, for Saline County, and it's always going to be an ATV park," Williams said. "I think it will benefit the county to fix an area of that road so that people can come."
Many of the board members voiced objections to purchasing the stretch of land from Independence Township. Board member Roger Craig pointed out that the county doesn't have the money to fully fix and repair the road.
"If you're asking us to take a two-mile road for $3,000, spend $100,000 on it, for your benefit, because you own a business on it, there's no way we'd ever say yes. " Craig said.
Craig was in support of using alternative processes to solve the road problem, saying, "There are avenues to support you - to use our manpower, our tools, and some of our equipment. Those are the things we need to support."
Craig and other board members pointed out to Williams that in order for roads to be purchased from townships, the process must happen through public hearings and meetings; involving the road commissioner for Independence Township: Steve Johnson.
Several other board members expressed interest in finding a way to repair the road without purchasing it from the township. Board member Allan Porter said that an eventual step may be the incorporation of the 13 area townships, to potentially ease the burden on them and the county board.
The general opinion of the board was that any procedures or discussions to take over control of the road needed to directly involve Johnson.