Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Broadwater County considers $500 petition fee for road-abandonment requests; review continued
Summary
County attorneys presented an edited draft resolution proposing that petitioners pay survey and investigation costs or a petition fee, including a proposed $500 fee to accompany petitions to abandon county roads or discontinue streets; commissioners asked for public review and postponed action to the following meeting.
A deputy county attorney presented an updated draft resolution on June 4 that would shift initial investigation and survey costs to petitioners seeking to abandon county roads or discontinue streets or alleys in unincorporated towns, and would require petitioners’ surveyors to attend on-site investigations. The draft also proposes a front-loaded filing fee to offset county processing costs.
Reading changes aloud, the deputy county attorney said the draft offers two options for paying survey costs: petitioners may pay directly or the county may select and hire a surveyor at the petitioner's expense. The draft also states that the petitioner’s surveyor should be present during the on-site investigation alongside a board member and the public-works supervisor. The attorney read the following language into the record: “Be it hereby further resolved ... the Broadwater Board of County Commissioners hereby establishes a $500 fee to accompany the submission of any petition to abandon a county road or petition to discontinue a street or alley in an unincorporated town or town site, which shall be dedicated to the public works department effective immediately.”
Commissioners debated practical details: whether $500 is appropriate (one commissioner suggested $300 would be acceptable), whether the fee should be dedicated to public works or collected by the clerk and recorder, and whether surveyor reports should arrive to the commission within a set number of days after completion (15 or 30 days were discussed). Several commissioners and the deputy attorney recommended more public review of the posted draft; commissioners agreed to continue consideration at the next meeting so members and the public have time to review the edited language.
Next steps: county staff will post revised hard copies for review and return the resolution to the commission at the next scheduled meeting for further action.
