Miller County Presiding Commissioner Tom Wright is warning residents about shortfalls in the county budgets and how that will affect county roads.
“As our winter is winding down, we are well aware of the toll it has taken on our roads,” he said. “We have had numerous calls, not only from private individuals, but from schools and businesses as well. Our county is not alone in this dilemma.”
He said that the roads are at a very critical, if not emergency condition. Roads that don’t have sink holes are filled with potholes, and until the ground loses the frost it is difficult if not impossible to repair them.
“We have decided to add some additional trucks to help in hauling material to speed up repairs, but this creates another problem,” he said.
The repairs will cause consequences.
“We work on a very tight budget so additional expense has to come from another line in the budget,” Wright said. “We will have to sacrifice somewhere else to do this. We know people are disgusted and are tired of tile conditions. We will do our best to get the roads fixed.”
First District Commissioner Darrell Bunch echoed Wright’s statement, saying that the commission is just as worried about the county’s roads as residents are. Bunch is responsible for more than 250 miles of Miller County roads, with a $58 million budget.
“The roads are in the worst shape I seen them in, in a long time,” He said. “One thing to keep in mind is that we haven’t seen a winter like this in several years either.”
Bunch said the budget is really tight because the local economy is in terrible condition.
“Until the economy picks up at the lake, and businesses return to Eldon, we are looking at a long dry spell,” he added.
Bunch also addressed the problem with dumping on the side of the road in his district. There are areas with a lot of junk being dumped alongside the road. One such area is the Bishop Road area just outside the Eldon city limits.
“It’s unclear who is responsible for cleaning up that area,” he said. “It’s my understanding that the city of Eldon was seeking grants to help with the problem, but I don’t know where that stands.”
Bunch said his crews are busy trying to fix county roads, and that is taking up all of their time.
“We are working hard every day hauling gravel and grading, in an effort to get the roads back in shape,” Bunch said. “If we start cleaning up roadsides, we won’t be fixing roads, and that is our main priority right now.”
One problem that counties in the state faces is that because they are funded primarily by property taxes, counties receive funding at the beginning of the year, and then have to make that money last for 12 months. A situation such as the harsh winter this year, makes it tough to hold on to enough money to make it through the year.
“We do the best we can with what we have to work with,” Bunch said. “It’s not a perfect system, but it’s what we have. Our goal is to make sure the roads are in good shape, and we are working hard to accomplish that goal.”
Miller County, Mo. —
