To Build a Road: Residents struggle with
the difficult process of road improvement
08/11/10
The mood of the group was tense as
30 to 40 residents entered the Mogollon Complex and sat around
the large table in the main room. In addition to the
homeowners, Navajo County Supervisor David Tenney, Senator
Sylvia Allen, along with Public Works director Homer Vela, and
other representatives from Navajo County were also in
attendance. The goal: to work out what obstacles were facing
the group to form a road improvement district in their
neighborhood.
A County Road Improvement District
is an improvement district that is formed for the purpose of
improving roads in the district to County Standard with the
expectation that upon completion of the improvements the County
will assume maintenance responsibility for the road or roads as
public roads.
Barb DeLong, who has been working
on this project for nearly two years, orchestrated this meeting
to find out answers. Barb took up role as spokesperson for a
group of residents in the Holiday Forest Subdivision in
Overgaard who are willing to pay higher property taxes to have
their roads paved, claiming health issues are the result of a
large dust problem.
In a letter Barb sent to Senator Allen
and other government officials she stated that, “The
traffic in our neighborhood has increased probably five times
what it was when I purchased my land in 1996.”
In order to accomplish the task of
having the roads paved, the group would have to form a road
improvement district.
In order to form a district, a
majority of property owners in the district, or those who own a
majority of the property in the district, must agree to be
assessed higher property taxes to pay for the road improvements
in order for it to be eligible for consideration by the Board
of Supervisors.
With approval, the County would
work with the district to have the roads paved. What was not
made clear, however, according to Barb, was that the Board of
Supervisors would likely not approve formation of the district
without the group actually getting 60-70% of property owners to
consent. Barb managed to get 52%.
Why would the Board of Supervisors
require so many of the residents to approve? Supervisor David
Tenney explained at the August 2 meeting that he recently dealt
with a similar issue in a previously-formed district whose
property tax assessments were increasing as a result of
additional road maintenance.
“Even with 79% of the
residents approving that district, we had home owners coming to
us in tears, begging us to not allow this to happen.”
Supervisor Tenney stated that a heart broken elderly man could
not afford the extra $40 a month that this was going to add to
his already burdened fixed income.
Jim and Carla Wyman, who also live
in the Holiday Forest Subdivision, indicated that they oppose
the district.
“Some people are having a
tough time,” stated Carla, citing some of the residents
have concern with financial troubles, and the added cost would
only make things worse.
Barb also explained at the Mogollon
Complex meeting that she felt that she was misled, and in turn
she gave the wrong information to those in her neighborhood.
Supervisor Tenney acknowledged that he should have made it
clear in his previous conversations with her that although
state statute issue a basic guideline, the Board of Supervisors
typically prefers a higher threshold in order to insure that
the majority of the area is on board with the idea.
In addition to the concerns raised
about the attempts to have the roads paved, the group also
stressed a need to have better maintenance. Director Vela
stated that he would personally oversee the care of the road
and that they would work to have it addressed by the end of the
year. He stated that because of the recent storm activity,
there have been many road and safety issues regarding flooding
that have to be addressed before they can move back into caring
for the scheduled maintenance, but that he would make sure this
is taken care of.
Director Vela and Supervisor
Tenney explained to the group that there are many options to
tackle the problem of having the roads improved, explaining
that other groups in the past have been unable to reach a
consensus, but raised funds as a small group and partnered with
the county to have various work done.
Senator Allen spoke to the group
about helping to make the process easier, and she committed to
seeing things through as they work to find resolution. A follow
up meeting was scheduled for November.