Teton County schedules road-vacation hearings, presses review of plow map and county road responsibilities

Teton County Public Works Director Daryl Johnson asked the Board of County Commissioners on May 12 to start formal processes to vacate two short roads and to validate the county road map, and the board set hearings and approved a small contract change order linked to current road work.

Johnson told commissioners the county received a road‑vacation application for North 1000 West (a short access into the Tributary subdivision) and that legal counsel recommended finishing a previously started vacation/adoption process for Pack Saddle Bench Road. "State statute allows for the commissioners to declare their wish to initiate the vacation hearing," Johnson said; he asked the board to schedule notices and hearings so the county can meet statutory noticing windows.

The board directed staff to schedule the road‑vacation hearing and adopted a July 14 date as the earliest practical slot that meets the 30‑day noticing requirement. Johnson also confirmed a separate road‑map validation hearing — intended to remove or add roads from the county road map and to clarify which corridors the county will maintain and plow — is set for June 2.

Johnson explained the consequences of a vacation: "When we vacate a road, that corridor is vacated... it's common for ownership to revert back to the adjacent land owners to the center of the road," and utility easements generally remain. He said the county has discovered inconsistencies between the road map the county publishes and the roads actually graded or plowed. "We've discovered that we're actually plowing roads that aren't on our road map," Johnson said, and urged the board to create clear criteria for which roads receive plowing and other maintenance.

On a separate construction item, the board approved change order number 2 for the East 5000 North reconstruction project after Johnson described a time‑sensitive utility conflict. The contractor had to trench a new ditch and coordinate with utilities; the change order totals $10,226.50 and Johnson said the cost will be charged to the project account.

The road‑map and vacation agenda items are intended to reduce ambiguity about which roads the county maintains, and commissioners signaled they want to combine the technical validation hearing and related vacation hearings into consolidated public proceedings. Johnson said voters and property owners can expect the county to discuss both the road map and a separate plow‑map formula in upcoming public hearings.

The county will provide formal public notices for the July 14 vacation hearing and for the June 2 road‑map validation hearing. Commissioners said they expect both hearings to draw significant public interest because the decisions affect maintenance, plowing responsibility and private access rights.