Broadwater commissioners acknowledge 2018 memo on White Horse Road; no formal legal change, urge BLM engagement and local maintenance agreement

Madam Chair opened a lengthy public discussion on White Horse Road and read a 2018 memo by former county attorney Corey Swanson concluding the route is not a county road and is composed of multiple private easements.

Commissioners and staff described the road as composed of multiple easement strips across private parcels, with the southern boundary of several properties formed by those easements. County officials noted the board has a moratorium on accepting new county roads and that no record was found showing the road was formally adopted as a county-maintained route in the historical record.

County Community Development Director Nicole Brown and County Attorney Kevin Bratcher summarized staff findings: the recorded easements allow use by heirs, assignees and invitees of the servient properties; the practical effect is broad public access because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns property at the road’s terminus; and, under current law, maintenance responsibility rests with…