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Bourbon County affirms Hidden Valley roads remain private, declines acceptance into county system
Summary
Bourbon County commissioners adopted a resolution reaffirming that Hidden Valley subdivision roads were never accepted into the county road maintenance system, citing lack of recorded easements and substandard infrastructure and declining to assume maintenance without reconstruction and formal dedication.
Bourbon County commissioners voted to adopt a resolution reaffirming that roads in the Hidden Valley subdivision are private and will not be accepted into the county road maintenance system absent formal easement dedication and substantial reconstruction.
At a public meeting on June 5, staff summarized a review of the Hidden Valley road system, saying the roads "do not meet county roadway construction standards" and that no recorded right‑of‑way or easement dedication exists. "To bring these roads into condition suitable for county maintenance would require substantial reconstruction rather than routine maintenance," the staff report said, and noted that past work had been conducted under private arrangements rather than as part of the county system.
Commissioners and county counsel discussed the legal and budgetary implications. County counsel indicated there is no precedent or authority to assume maintenance without property owners executing dedications and meeting engineering standards. The written resolution, read aloud at the meeting, reaffirms an earlier limited designation (resolution 1217) that allowed law‑enforcement access but "did not and does not constitute acceptance, dedication, or assumption of maintenance responsibility by Bourbon County for roads within Hidden Valley."
Commissioners said accepting the roads in their current condition would place a substantial strain on the county road maintenance budget and impede service levels for existing county roads. The board voted to adopt the resolution; the motion carried as recorded in the meeting minutes.
The resolution directs that the Hidden Valley Homeowners Association retains responsibility for ownership, control and maintenance of subdivision roads and states that nothing in the board's action should be interpreted to create a county duty, liability or maintenance obligation.
Next steps identified at the meeting included providing the adopted resolution on official county paper and making copies available for the public record. Staff also advised that any future consideration to accept these roads should be preceded by formal dedication of easements and a full reconstruction to county standards.
