County Road 32 Improvement
Project
72% of the 93 respondents through May 1, 2006 favor the paving
project.
From June 1, 2005 poll . . .
Poll on Paving Project -- The Indian
Mountain Property Owners Association has been asked by some owners
in the subdivision to look into the subject of road improvements.
Property owner and part time resident
Les Younger agreed to do this and this report reflects what he
learned.
The stretch of gravel road between the Jefferson-Como fire station
on Elkhorn Road and the entrance to Indian Mountain is the biggest
road concern to date. Even though it is graded weekly, that road
has washboarding, dust, rocks, curves that slope the wrong way,
etc. It is not just a nuisance to drive, it can be dangerous. The
County says that the traffic on this road now averages about 700
vehicles a day.
Park County says it has no funds to pave any roads in the County.
This is a result of taxation issues in the State and is not expected
to change in the short term. There is money for road maintenance,
but not new construction.
This position angers many property owners,
but it seems to be beyond our control. There was a recent meeting
sponsored by the County to discuss alternative ways for rural subdivisions
to pay for road improvements. The County is encouraging such steps
because of the shortage of funds. The meeting was well covered
in the Flume newspaper and had an IMPOA representative. There are
four basic steps envisioned in the County's process, as follows.
First, a group of people has to decide that it wants to improve
a particular road. That group could be any description, but the
Indian Mountain subdivision is a logical choice for a group to
support the road improvement described above.
Secondly, the group has to petition the County Commission to form
what is called a Limited Improvement District. The third step is
that the County Commission has to approve the Limited Improvement
District. If there is no strong opposition, the Commission would
likely do this in a timely way.
The fourth step is that the LID can put a bond issue on the election
ballot to pay for the road improvement. Such an election could
be held as early as this November. If the bond issue passes, then
money would be collected by the county in the form of a new property
tax within the LID.
The Road and Bridge Division of Park County has estimated what
it would cost to improve the road with what is called chip and
seal - a surface that is the same as the road from Route 285 to
the fire station. Their estimate is about $350,000 for the 3.6
miles of road. That amount would include new culverts where needed,
road straightening, etc.
There are about 2500 lots in Indian Mountain. Dividing $350,000
by 2500 yields $140 per lot. If the bond issue was for 10 years
at 5.5% interest, the total cost to each lot owner in additional
taxes would be about $18 per year for 10 years. This seems a reasonable
price, certainly less than one replacement windshield or front
end repair in 10 years.
No one has done anything yet to form a Limited Improvement District
for this particular road. First we wanted to see what people thought
of the idea. We took a straw poll at the Memorial Day luncheon
and the people there were about evenly spit on the issue. Now we
want you to say what you think here on the web site so we can take
the pulse of a broader segment of the community.
Please answer ALL of the following questions: Send
your answers here.
-
Do you have a home
in Indian Mountain?
-
Are you a full time
resident of Indian Mountain?
-
Are you registered
to vote in Park County?
-
Do you favor paving
the road from the fire station to the entrance to Indian
Mountain on Albino?
-
Would the increase
in property values associated with the improved road justify
the $18 per year per lot for 10 years?
-
Have you any comments
you would offer?
Your responses to these questions will
be treated anonymously, so please tell
us frankly what you think. We look forward to your response.
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