Hi Neighbors,
Bert Hume & Greg Anderson who told you for the last three months that it WASN'T POSSIBLE to grade our roads for $3,000 have been proven wrong and rather than admit that they were not telling you the truth they have invented a new term, "Ranch Grade Road". NOW, they want to tell you that grading the roads without first putting down a lot of loose dirt, (which washes away in the first heavy rain, and costs thousands of dollars), actually makes for a better road. If spending four or more TIMES the money for a road that is now less compacted actually makes sense to these people you can now appreciate why the POA members voted them out in November. Making the roads flat by grading them ONLY enough to make them flat, leaves a compacted surface which then compacts further as it is driven on, instead of leaving loose dirt on the surface that washes away with the first rain. Ask the people who work the county roads out here and you'll find that's the way they do it. "Fine Grading" the road is what you do before you PAVE IT. Sure, it looks good, but you have to spend thousands more to do it again next year and it doesn't hold up as well during that year. For the last three or four months this group has been very vocal in saying that the roads were TERRIBLE and needed grading. They graded the roads in March of 2013. It's been about nine months. Why were they so terrible? It was a year and three months before the March 2013 grading when they graded them in November of 2011. Why were the roads in so much worse shape after nine months when they spent even more money on them in 2013? The weather can affect this, yes, but there was no unusual adverse weather that year, or this year. The most interesting question I have encountered was this: All six of the graders I have spoken with have told me that to go over the roads more than one pass (each side of course) breaks down the "crust" and leaves the road vulnerable to turning to "flour". So why were we billed for 80 hours of grading in 2011 by D Fenn (Bert Hume's friends) when it only takes about 22 hours to grade 22 miles of road? This is gross overkill, detrimental to the longevity of the road, or, at worst case, a padded bill. It is common sense that a grader moves at LEAST 2 miles per hour when cutting and usually a bit faster than that. With two passes on each mile that still means that it takes about an hour to grade a mile. So, 22 miles..... 22 hours. Why 80 hours of grading? That's OVER THREE TIMES what it should take. Something is very wrong here. The rest of that bill was for moving large amounts of dirt. That dirt was replaced again in March 2013. I see this as an incredible waste of our money. They tried to sell us on the idea that we could save money by buying a grader. What were they going to do to move all the dirt each time? (A grader won't do that) I don't see where we could save a great deal of money on this as they claim.
I see two choices here:
Spend $12,000 - $15,000 to grade roads that are not as compacted or resilient
OR
Spend $3,000 to grade roads that are every bit as flat and hold up better.
Gee, I wonder which one you'd prefer?
Rich Kelley
Your sarcastic reference to Al Duff's Email does not reflect well on you Rich. Al was the first person to honestly explain to the property owners we have choices in road maintenance as opposed to being told what is best for us and how much money we have saved. You are trying to convince us that we now have a better road system for 1/4 the cost and yet my trailers are bottoming out on dips that have not been filled in. Will you try and sell us the Brooklyn Bridge next? It only makes sense that to continue scrapping the surface of the roads without adding to them will result in rock being exposed and brought to the surface. I'm not taking sides or trying to hurt anyone... I'm just saying we are not as ignorant as you think. To claim that last Fall's monsoons were no worse than normal? Take a walk up Sheep Wash and see how the channel has completely changed. Look at the debris washed down!!! I have been hiking that wash for 34 years and I have never seen so much flood destruction as now. And you ask "why are the roads bad this year?" Are you serious? Yes, some road grade is lost when heavy monsoons occur... that's natural. That's why they need to be replaced or the deterioration will only hasten. Please don't dictate to us what is best for us. We would like to be given choices and listen to the professional opinions of bidding contractors.
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