Cochise County hears broad public demand to repair, add and pave rural roads; board schedules follow-up work session

Bisbee, Ariz. — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors heard more than two hours of public comment on Nov. 6, 2025, as residents pressed the county to add, repave or otherwise improve dozens of rural roads that become impassable during monsoon season.

Jason Fazio, Cochise County Public Works Director, told the meeting that the county manages roughly 1,433 miles of county-maintained roads within a larger network of more than 5,000 miles of public and private roads. Jackie Watkins, the county engineer and director of engineering, said the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) — paid at the gas pump and fixed at about 18¢ per gallon since 1990 — has not kept pace with inflation and rising construction costs. Those funding limits, Watkins said, mean the county cannot maintain or upgrade every road residents requested.

The public comments, many supported by photo packets or neighborhood petitions, focused on a handful of recurring themes: chronic drainage and stormwater runoff that washes out roads and culverts; safety and emergency-access problems when fire and ambulance vehicles cannot reach homes during storms; and long-running local efforts to privately fund grading that residents said are no longer adequate. Speakers from Hargas (Hargis) Ranch, Chippewa, Calle Encina, South Kino, Miracle Valley, Calle Cuento and several other neighborhoods described roads that flood, form deep gullies or generate dust that affects elderly residents and deliveries.

Why it matters: the county relies heavily on HURF allocations for maintenance, and supervisors and staff said those funds are constrained by inflation and by distribution formulas that favor faster‑growing counties. Staff presented a 20-year comparison showing how a fixed per-gallon tax has lost purchasing power as asphalt, aggregate and steel costs rose sharply.

What happened at the meeting: the board did not vote on specific road changes. Instead, supervisors said they will take the public input, run a prioritized “rack-and-stack” analysis of candidate roads using the county’s add/drop policy (Resolution 19-01) and return with cost estimates and a proposed prioritized list at a future work session and then a public hearing. The board also said it plans to push state legislators for changes to HURF allocations and discussed the possibility of voter action or other revenue measures to raise funds for roads.

Resident examples and requests: Attendees described a wide range of conditions and requests. Atila Buretsky submitted a packet documenting 105 parcels in the Hargas Ranch area and argued that redirected runoff from nearby paved roads has turned parts of the subdivision into a retention basin. Carol Welsh said neighbors had voluntarily collected more than $20,000 to grade South Kino Road but still want county maintenance or paving. Rebecca Allen Jones, executive director of a nonprofit with property in Miracle Valley, said paved roads would improve safety, response times and community investment for about 700 residents there.

Cost and process: staff told the board that paving can run roughly $500,000 per mile in preliminary figures presented at the meeting and that the county will perform field-level cost and engineering analyses for roads the board asks to prioritize. Jackie Watkins and Jason Fazio said staff will return with road-specific engineering recommendations, cost estimates, and a plan for public hearings and potential formal actions. The board scheduled a staff work session to review those analyses before any vote.

What the board directed staff to do: collect and catalog the public comments and petitions provided at the meeting; perform engineering assessments and cost estimates for candidate roads; apply the county’s add/drop criteria (Resolution 19-01) in a prioritization exercise; and present a recommended list, with funding scenarios, in a public work session followed by a hearing where the board could take formal action.

Quotes (from meeting):

"We have 1,433 miles of county-maintained roads and over 3,600 miles that are not county-maintained," Cochise County Public Works Director Jason Fazio said, describing the scale of the system.

"The 18¢ has been the rate since 1990...the buying power has declined," Jackie Watkins, county engineer, said, explaining why HURF revenues no longer go as far.

Supervisor Maria Gomez said the board would "take this input, do a rack and stack with the team" and urged residents to provide petitions or letters to support requests to state legislators.

What was not decided: the board made no final additions or deletions to the county-maintained roads list at the meeting, and it did not approve any paving or construction contracts. Staff will return with estimates and a recommended prioritized list for the board to consider at a subsequent public meeting.

Next steps and how residents can stay involved: staff will post the work-session agenda and analyses online; the clerk of the board will publish meeting notices and agendas. Supervisors asked residents to submit petitions, emails or signatures if they want the board to carry constituent demand to state lawmakers as part of a funding push.

Background: county staff said the Road Improvement Maintenance District (resident-initiated districts governed by elected boards) and Road Improvement Districts (where residents bring roads up to county standards and the county then maintains them) are alternatives to full county-funded maintenance; informational brochures were available at the meeting.

No formal votes or motions were recorded on Nov. 6; the board scheduled a work session to review staff analyses and possible public hearings leading to future decisions.