Even The World, despite supporting Stufflebean through the recall, are finding it difficult to reconcile the road master’s determination to use county forces to pave a collection of private driveways.
Stufflebean, the road department liaison, did not give a clear answer to why commissioners included driveways in the first place.
$54,000 project
“We legally have to respond to that request. Meaning the board,” he said.
“This being our first LID in Coos County, we said we would obliged their legal request as authorized by law. With Stage (Road), we told them that we wouldn’t,” Stufflebean wrote in an e-mail to The World.
As inarticulate and grammatically challenged as ever, Stufflebean appears to be saying the County will comply with the law in one instance but defy the law in the other. Except the ORS originally cited as justification for paving private drives doesn’t mandate the County to pave ‘private driveways’.
Commissioner Nikki Whitty is now saying all driveways are off the table and residents of the Stage Road LID I have spoken to confirm despite earlier promises to pave their driveways, they have recently been advised driveways are off the table.
Neither the resolution, nor the order, read the Wallace LID Resolution & Order commit the County to paving private drives ( as far as I can tell). So who committed county funds, dedicated road funds, to non public use? One can only surmise Roadmaster John Rowe who unlike other departments has a lot of discretionary spending capability, chose to pave some private drives despite a meager crew and 600 miles of county roads to maintain. We have to assume his BOC liaison, Stufflebean, who maneuvered the local access channel to film what can only be described as a campaign video (apparently for free), blessed the project.
The real concern is whether the County can really compel the property owners of the Wallace Road LID to pay the tab. The resolution and order appear to have no teeth (and I admit I am not a lawyer) but neither do the Wallace LID Owner estimates. As far as I can tell there is nothing compelling the owners to pay for the improvements made to their driveways. The owners acknowledge the cost of the driveways, some circular, some having multiple drives, but nowhere does it say in the drawings, resolution or order the owners have to repay the costs. (Unless I have missed something so please read these documents)
It seems that a rogue element in the Coos County Road Department chose to pave private drives, (rumor has it that a member of the Coos County Planning Commission paved a driveway, five in fact), without authorization. So who should really be paying that tab?
