Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Road Maintenance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County denies request to open-cut Wildburger Road for sewer install
Summary
Commissioners denied a utility proposal to open-cut Wildburger Road after the road superintendent warned the county’s paved roads don’t tolerate open trenching and engineers cited sinkhole and long-term settlement risks. The applicant had argued limestone and railroad constraints made boring difficult.
The Lawrence County Commission voted to deny Hayward Enterprises’ request to open-cut Wildburger Road to install an 8-inch sewer line, citing long-term damage risks to the county road surface.
Michael, a representative of Payworth Enterprises, told the commission the contractor could not successfully bore through an 8–10,000 PSI limestone seam and asked for permission to “open dig that and reasphalt it” to complete the sewer tie-in. Engineer Anthony Theodore warned that directional drilling and jacking in that area could still undermine the road and potentially produce sinkholes: “you could end up having... a sinkhole developed.”
The county road superintendent opposed the application, saying the county has virtually never allowed open trenching on paved roads and that patches “are never gonna be the same” without a mill-and-overlay. “I would not... I I'm not in support of this,” the superintendent said, citing chronic settling and the difficulty of restoring long-term serviceability. Commissioners agreed to support the superintendent’s recommendation and the motion to deny the application carried by voice vote.
The commission asked staff and the applicant to pursue alternative boring solutions and mitigation options (for example, geotextile reinforcement and extended warranties) before returning with a revised plan. The denial was limited to the current permit request; the commission did not enact a policy change beyond the single permit decision.
