Residents urge restoring Ross Pit royalties to roads and call for emergency communications fixes

Several residents used the Feb. 4 public comment period to press the Columbia County Board of Commissioners on long-standing fiscal and infrastructure concerns.

LaWanna Poyer (Goble/Global) urged the board to stop diverting Ross Pit commercial royalties to the general fund and return the roughly $540,000 annual royalty to road maintenance, saying the diversion has led to a drop in the county’s pavement condition index to about 52 out of 100 and a shift to "reactive maintenance." "Taking 100% of the royalties constitutes an unjustified profit extracted directly from our failing road system," Poyer said.

Linda Foyer presented similar concerns and expanded the call to restore pit royalties, propose a revenue-neutral expansion of the board from three to five members, and identify administrative savings and indirect-cost recovery from grants as potential revenue sources to avoid liquidating long-term assets.

Nancy Reed brought attention to emergency communications, recounting a Columbia 911 communications district meeting in which Sheriff Pixley and other first-responder representatives described garbled or failed radio transmissions that have delayed response and compromised safety in some incidents. Reed urged the commissioners to prioritize upgrades and coordination for the county’s radio system.

Paulette Frasier, addressing the general fund deficit, proposed practical measures such as modernizing internal government service fees and more aggressively capturing grant indirect costs to generate sustainable revenue without depleting long-term assets.

What happens next: The board acknowledged the concerns and accepted handouts offered by speakers. These public comments were recorded for board consideration as the county finalizes budget choices for the 2026–27 cycle.