HomeMy WebLinkAbout20151148.tiff Public Works Department
1111 H Street, PO Box 758
- Greeley, Colorado 80632
Website: www.co.wcld.co.us
Phone: (970) 304-6496
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March 16, 2015
Sara J. Barber
52255 CR 21
Nunn, CO 80648
Miss Barber,
Your letter regarding maintenance of county roads and especially CR 21 North of CR 102 was
forwarded to me for reply.
The study that you cited in your letter is by Churchill, Lachance, and Coll. It was done in 1992
for the town of Richmond, Maine. They use significantly different standards for maintenance of
paved and non-paved roads than we do in Weld County Colorado. Here, it costs $7500 more per
year, per mile, to maintain a paved road than it does to maintain a non-paved road.
You correctly stated that there are some roads that are not maintained by County crews. There
are several reasons for this. Some, as in your case, are due to private agreements between the
property owners and the developer. Chapter 8 of Weld County Code is very clear regarding those
types of situations. It would be a violation of County Code for me to begin regular maintenance
of any roads that fall into that category. However, County Code also provides a procedure
whereby citizens may request, through the board of County Commissioners,that a road not on
the current system, be considered for County maintenance. I am enclosing a copy of Section 8-6-
150 of the Weld County Code for your convenience.
Thank you for your letter. Please contact me if I may be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Jay McDonald
Director
�0 `m 2015-1148
Page 1 of I
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CLERK TO THE BOARD
>? 181 PHONE: (970) 336-7215, Ext. 5226
FAX: (970) 336-7233
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1150 O STREET
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GREELEY, COLORADO 80632
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41
May 27, 2015
Sara J. Barber
52255 County Road 21
Nunn, CO 80648
RE: Maintenance of County Roads
Dear Sara:
Attached is a letter from our Director of Public Works, Jay McDonald, in response to your
correspondence regarding the maintenance of County Roads, especially County Road 21 North
of County Road 102.
I am very sorry that the letter of response did not get to you. Please accept our Apologies, as it
was originally mailed to you in care of Poudre High School, and may have been inadvertently
missed.
I have included a copy of the Letter for you and your files as well as a copy of Section 8-6-150 of
the Weld County Code that was identified in response to your letter.
If you have questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at
(970) 336-7215, Extension 5226.
Very truly yours,
f 403-hte
I�a)Al ae Martinezz
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Deputy Clerk to the Board
ramartinez@weldgov.com
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2,Article Number 7004 2890 0003 5709 0611
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PS Form 3811,July 2013 Domestic Return Receipt
ARTICLE VI
Miscellaneous Provisions
Sec.8-6-150. Road acceptance policy.
The County does not maintain private roads; lanes or driveways. (See Article I, Sec. 8-1-30, Snow
Removal Plan A, F, Operations, 7: Snow Policy.) The sponsor of the roadway project desiring to obtain
County maintenance shall first address such request to the Board of County Commissioners for its con-
sideration at one(1)of its regularly-scheduled business meetings. The sponsor shall he responsible to pay
the entire cost of notification to owners and/or occupants of lands lying adjacent to the roadway. Such
notification shall include a description of the request and shall set forth the time and place of the Board
consideration. Before a public road can be accepted by the Board of County Commissioners for mainte-
nance,the road must meet the following minimum conditions:
A. The road right-of-way shall he dedicated or otherwise secured to the satisfaction of the Coun-
ty for use by the public and maintenance by the County.
B. The road right-of-way shall be clearly staked and flagged for construction purposes by a li-
censed land surveyor. The surveyor shall notify the Department of Public Works, in writing, when
the staking is completed.
C. The width of the right-of-way cannot be less than sixty(60) feet.
D. The road shall serve a minimum of three (3) legal lots, which must have residential dwell-
ings, to be considered for acceptance. Properties abutting the intersection of the road under consid-
eration for acceptance and an existing publicly maintained road do not count toward the required
three(3) lots.
E. The minimum road width shall be a minimum of twenty-six (26) feet of graveled surface or
meet the minimum design guidelines for the anticipated traffic on the roadway segment being con-
sidered.
F. .The following shall be the minimum acceptable standards before a road is accepted for
maintenance:
1. The roadway cross-slope, from centerline, shall be not less than three percent(3%).
2. Borrow ditches shall be a minimum of twenty-four(24) inches deep with 3:1 side slopes
and graded to provide adequate drainage.
3. All side road borrow ditches shall be sufficient to carry the five-year storm or be a mini-
mum of an eighteen-inch-diameter culvert as determined by the Director of Public Works.
Crossroad drainage structures shall be sufficient to carry the ten-year storm or be a minimum of
an eighteen-inch culvert as determined by the Director of Public Works.
4, The Department of Public Works shall test and inspect the roadbed subgrade for structur-
al adequacy and acceptable materials. The subgrade shall be compacted to ninety-five percent
(95%)of AASHTO Standard Proctor T-99(Method A) or other compaction standards previously
approved by the Director of Public Works.
Page 2 of 3
G. A minimum of four(4) inches of compacted gravel meeting Colorado Department of Trans-
portation specifications for Class VI material must be provided on the traveled surface. The gravel
shall be compacted in accordance with AASHTO Standard Proctor T-99(Method D)requirements.
H. The road cannot be fenced or gated. If cattle have cross-access to the roadway, a cattle guard
shall be installed in accordance with the County cattle guard policy.
1. If a fence exists along the section line on which the road is to be built, relocation of the fence
to the road right-of-way lines shall be the responsibility of the sponsor(s)of the roadway project.
J. Reimbursement by the sponsor(s) of the roadway project shall be made for acreage within
the road right-of-way included in an adjacent property Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)crop or
which has an unharvested annual crop demolished by the roadway construction project.
K. The sponsor(s) of the roadway project shall be responsible for all costs associated with con-
struction of the road. (Weld County Codification Ordinance 2000-1; Weld County Code Ordinance
2002-1)
Page 3 of 3
Rafaela Martinez
From: Sharon Benson
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 12:52 PM
To: Rafaela Martinez
Cc: Jay McDonald
Subject: letter
Attachments: Barber,Sara-Scannedfinal.pdf
Rafaela — this letter was sent to Sara Barber Go the Poudre High School Address, not her home as
Jay had on the letter. He asked me to send to the school address shown on the last page of this scan
and that is where we mailed it.
Sharon Benson
Office Manager
Weld County Public Works
1111 11 Street, P.O. 130% 758
Greeley, CO 80632
(970)304-6496
Confidentiality Notice:This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other writings are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed
and may contain information that is privileged,confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure.If you have received this communication in error,please
immediately notify sender by return e-mail and destroy the communication.Any disclosure,copying,distribution or the taking of any action concerning the contents of
this communication or any attachments by anyone other than the named recipient is strictly prohibited.
1
Rafaela Martinez
From: Jay McDonald
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2015 2:25 PM
To: Rafaela Martinez
Subject: Re: Letter of Concern - Sarah Barber
Yes. I will send you a copy.
Jay McDonald
Sent from my iPhone
> On Apr 1, 2015, at 2:23 PM, Rafaela Martinez <ramartinezOco.weld.co.us> wrote:
> Jay,
> Did you ever finalize this?
> Thanks!
> Rafaela A. Martinez
> Deputy Clerk to the Board
> 1150 0 StreetIP.O. Box 758IGreeley, CO 80632
> tel: (970) 336-7215 X5226
> Confidentiality Notice: This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other
writings are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you
have received this communication in error, please immediately notify sender by return e-mail
and destroy the communication. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any
action concerning the contents of this communication or any attachments by anyone other than
the named recipient is strictly prohibited.
> Original Message
> From: Jay McDonald
> Sent: Monday, March 09, 2015 7:15 AM
> To: Rafaela Martinez
> Subject: RE: Letter of Concern - Sarah Barber
> I am conferring with the Commissioners about the response to this letter. May take a few
days to craft a proper reply.
> Thank You
> L Jay McDonald
> Public Works Director
> Public Works Department
> Weld County, CO
> (970) 304 -6496
> Confidentiality Notice: This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other
writings are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you
1
have received this communication in error, please immediately notify sender by return e-mail
and destroy the communication. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any
action concerning the contents of this communication or any attachments by anyone other than
the named recipient is strictly prohibited.
Original Message
> From: Rafaela Martinez
> Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2015 8:59 AM
> To: Jay McDonald
> Subject: Letter of Concern - Sarah Barber
> Good Morning Jay!
> Attached you will find a letter of concern from County Resident (s) Sarah Barber.
According to Clerk to the Boards policy, we do ask Department Heads or Elected Officials,
from the various departments involved, to respond within 3 days.
> If you are unable to do so, please send an E-Mail to CTB stating the time you might require
for further research and review. Please fill out the attached Letter of Concern form along
with your recommendation.
> Thank you,
> Rafaela A. Martinez
> Deputy Clerk to the Board
> 1150 0 StreetIP.O. Box 758IGreeley, CO 80632
> tel: (970) 336-7215 X5226
> Logo 2012 Color
> Confidentiality Notice: This electronic transmission and any attached documents or other
writings are intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you
have received this communication in error, please immediately notify sender by return e-mail
and destroy the communication. Any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any
action concerning the contents of this communication or any attachments by anyone other than
the named recipient is strictly prohibited.
2
Mike Freeman RECEIVED
Weld County Commissioner
1150 O Street MAR 04
P.O. Box 758 WELD 9QO 8
CQMNII.1�3
Greeley, CO 80632
February 5th, 2015
Dear Commissioner Mike Freeman:
Currently in Weld County, 79.4%of roadways are unmaintained or unpaved. According to my
research, an unmaintained road is a road that is not kept up by the county and an unpaved road is
a gravel street that does not have asphalt or concrete pavement. Obviously, roadways are a vital
component of a prosperous geographic area. Road safety has become more of an issue recently
due to an increase in traffic and speed. There has been countless accidents and fatalities due to
poor road conditions, some unpreventable, while others that could have easily been avoided. I
personally live on an unmaintained road northwest of Nunn. I am affected everyday by the lack
of preservation of my road and on several occasions it has become impassable. T find it difficult
to believe that a county with so much natural resource development and tax revenue, there are so
many miles of unmaintained roads. This is even more difficult to fathom considering the
population of some areas. My area, for example, on County Road 21, currently has 14 houses in
a 2.5 mile stretch, with more houses under construction. As the number of houses increase, the
traffic level increases, and the ability to maintain it becomes more difficult. The burden of
developing roads should lie with the county, city, or property developer. Yet the maintenance
for the road to my home was left to an agreement between Weld County and the property
developer, stating that the developer would maintain the road at a `passable' level.
Unfortunately, there appears to be no repercussions if the developer completes constructions and
decides to leave the area, or file for bankruptcy. Repairing or upgrading roads result in increased
property values, which in turn increase the county tax base and results in a more desirable place
to live. Common safety becomes an issue for people who live on an unmaintained road if an
emergency vehicle is needed and the road is impassable. Although the cost to maintain roadways
in Weld County seems high, the price of safety and quality of life in Weld County makes it
worth every dime.
Weld County's roadways need to be improved significantly in order to increase the value of the
county as well as improve the safety of the roads. According to the Weld County website, of the
3,251.79 miles of roadway in Weld County, 671.4 miles are paved, 2,326.58 miles are unpaved,
and 253.81 miles are unmaintained. This would mean that 71.5% of the roadways in Weld
County are unpaved, 7.9% of roadways are unmaintained, and only 20.6% of the roadways in
Weld County are paved. Comparing a county in similar population, Pueblo County has 1,201.91
miles of roadway, of the 1,201.91 miles, 455 miles are paved roads and 747 miles are maintained
gravel roads. This would mean that 62.2% of roadways are maintained, 37.8% are paved, and the
amount of unmaintained roads were not listed. That means that the amount of paved roads is
almost double in Pueblo County compared to Weld County and Weld County has I,624 more
square miles than Pueblo County. From this information, it seems that Weld County has not been
spending enough time or money on their roads. According to Glenn Rabinowitz in his article Too
Many Crash Deaths in Weld County That Could be Avoided, there were 44 roadway related
deaths in Weld County in 2014. While it is hard to tell whether they were due to negligence of
the driver or because of bad weather conditions, some of them could have been avoided had
there been better roads to ensure safety for everyone on the road. There will always be vehicular
accidents but a number of them can be avoided with higher quality roads that can handle the
traffic that it is holding. A recent study done by Nancy Churchill on the cost of roads, states that
it would be a lot more cost effective to convert high use gravel roads into paved roads factoring
in the amount of money it costs to constantly maintain a gravel road rather than pave a road once
and occasionally fill potholes. It is understandable that there is no need to pave every road in the
county but there a few roads in Weld County that it would save money to pave the road rather
than have the cost of continuous upkeep of the gravel road. Looking at the Weld County budget
for 2013, I also understand that the county is trying to implement a technology and innovation
plan. "The technology investment plan should help identify efficiency gains that can permit
smart budget reductions and work to improve efficiency to support organizational success. The
process has the potential of reducing costs, and promoting cost avoidance" (2013 Weld County
budget). With this having been implemented two year ago, I think now is the perfect time to
begin finding out what the county needs to increase funding for. Personally, I believe roads are
an issue at this time and it would be a very important investment to manage the upkeep of roads
that have tax payers living on it. If the county did happen to increase the management of our
roads, it would be important to factor in the cost of increasing the number of workers in the
grading department. On the county's Frequently Asked Questions there was an inquiry about
how to get a gravel road paved. The county's response was "it depends" and that it all is
determined on classification, traffic counts, percentage of truck traffic, safety, continuity, and
mobility. What criteria is used to determine which county roads are chosen to be upgraded from
an unmaintained to a maintained status? Are they the same factors? If so, my road has had an
increase in traffic counts, increase in truck traffic due to oil drilling, there has been safety
concerns as well as mobility concerns. My road seems to fit four out of the six criterion factors
listed from the county to increase maintenance on the road. Many other roads in Weld County
would also classify as eligible to get their roads maintained according to the county's factors
listed. So, when will the criterion for road repairs influence the actions taken by the county to
improve roadways?
As a government entity, it is Weld County's responsibility to maintain all roads that are inhabited
by tax payers. Currently my road is at times impassable and there are 14 houses along the road as
well as new houses being built. If the calculations are made, there are on average four people per
household, which is 56 people living on our road. There are usually two drivers per household,
which means that on my unmaintained road alone, there would be 28 drivers traveling daily. This
does not include the people who drive down our road that don't live on it such as extended
family members, friends, and drivers just-passing through. All 14 of the houses are families and
tax payers that are contributing to the upkeep of the county, yet they do not reap the benefits of
the county's tax dollars because the road is unmaintained. I understand that the county is not held
responsible for maintaining a county right of away but I feel that if there are people living on the
road, then money should be spent to help out with the road. It is the county's moral duty to
ensure the safety of every resident with financial responsibilities to Weld County. If one of the
people that live on my road were to have health problems and an ambulance was needed, the
ambulance would not be able to get down the road. At one point when my grandmother was
living with us she had surgery and needed oxygen delivered to our house. My mom had to pull
the oxygen truck out of the mud because it had gotten stuck. If we hadn't been there, the oxygen
would not have been delivered and my grandmother's health could have been compromised.
I understand the unfortunate truth that the county will not feel the need to change the condition
of my road until a tragedy occurs and someone is not able to be helped in time to save them. May
I ask, how many people must die before the county will fulfill their obligation to improve the
road occupied by my family and neighbors? Same goes with stoplights and stop signs. It seems
that there is never a stop sign or a stoplight installed until multiple people have died and the
county gets enough complaints. However, I would like to change that by warning the county that
the road that I live on is not up to the standard for living. My road is not the only one because
there are many other roads that are inhabited yet are not fit for any traffic. If houses are to be
built and permits issued on an unmaintained road, it should be required that either the builder or
the county maintains the road. When my parents bought our house, it was signed in the contract
that the builder would keep the road passable and road grade it twice a year, however that
commitment has not been followed through. My dad has a tractor and we have had to pull
countless people out of the ditch when the road gets bad; I have also been late to school on
several occasions getting stuck on the road. My father has spent an incalculable amount of hours
on our tractor, spending our money to pay for fuel to maintain the road just so we can get down
it. That money being spent to maintain our road is currency on top of the money that we are
already spending on tax dollars. The problem with my road in Weld County is a common
problem throughout the area and not just on my street. It is clear that it is important to budget
money in order to pay for everything that is needed, but I have a hard time believing that there is
not enough money in the county to keep the roads passable and well maintained. Roads that are
now unmaintained would be able to be kept up during different intervals with a road grader. For
example, my road has 14 families so the county would only need to grade the road about twice a
year. Therefore, the cost for the county would be minor and it would be making a world of
difference in our life. I will be getting my license to drive soon and it is scary to think that one
day I might not be able to get home because of the lack of preservation my road has.
Weld County is a great county to live in because of the wide open spaces and the peace out on
the prairie. Unfortunately, my family's experience with Weld County has not been great due to
the road. I believe that it is the county's responsibility to help maintain all roads that are
inhabited by tax payers. It does not make sense to fit the needs of some people over the needs of
others. I know of maintained roads that hardly get any traffic and other roads that are
unmaintained and the traffic is too much for the road to handle due to the lack of infrastructure. I
understand it depends on different factors but it is important as a county to try to fit everyone's
needs. I am not asking for Weld County to pave every road that they have, I am just asking for
some help. I know that the county is concerned with the amount of money spent and it is very
selective on what roads are prioritized over others. If there is honestly no other money that the
county can be spending to maintain the roads,then the least that the county could do is support
the tax payers. We could possibly create a fund for the tax payers on roads that are unmaintained
to put away part of their taxes to earn up enough money to be able to afford to maintain the road,
similar to what a home owners association would have. Or if this is also too difficult for the
county I believe that the builder should be responsible for the road. If the builder signs a contract
that they are going to maintain the road, it should be the county's responsibility to make sure this
is followed through. Right now the road conditions of Weld County are not sufficient for many
people that live on unmaintained roads. There are numerous options that would cost money and
some that would have no cost, either way is a step in the right direction. With 79.4% of roadways
unmaintained or unpaved in Weld County, it is most definitely time to do something about our
roads as a county.
Thank you for your time,
Sarah Barber
52255 CR 21 )I'TTER. cotweiRb6d Tb J i M
MetsoNt cot REs►j'orag
Nunn, CO 80648 JAGQ.E& WITH !RE(APWF,MDArttonc7
Conway
Cozad
Freeman
Kirkmeyer
Moreno S771,
The enclosed letter was written by a 10ft grade International Baccalaureate student from Poudre High School in Fort
Collins, Colorado. Students chose a cause they believe in to explore, think about, research, and persuade a real-life
recipient. In addition to this letter, they also delivered a formal speech. The student would love a personal response.
Thank you for reading their ideas! Feel free to send your letter to the student care of:
Poudre High School 201 Impala Dr. Fort Collins, CO. 80521
Hello