Spring has nearly sprung, and our gravel roads are filled with potholes. Somebody with a tractor bladed them yesterday, and the lower section along the creek, by Mailbox Row, is greatly improved. However, with each rain, and each nightly freeze and thaw, those potholes regenerate.
Hick said our enclave's Facebook page had a request from our across-the-road neighbors that each family buy a load of gravel for the year. At the cost of $230. That's reasonable enough, with inflation. Hick said the last time he had a buddy haul a load of gravel for us, it cost $175. But he has connections. AND, I don't begrudge the spreaders of the gravel a pittance for their tractor gas, and time.
The deadline for collecting that gravel money is May 5th. Not that anything will be done if somebody chooses not to pay. It's not like you can ban them from driving on the roads.
We will pay our portion this week. I'm fairly certain that more than half of the 40 residents will pay nothing. They must think the roads repair themselves. Or that they are exempt from contributing. As with society, some people will feel entitled to reaping the benefits of others who pay for them.
It is what it is.
A always, there will always be takers who are willing for the givers to bear the responsibility of what needs to be done. We were in an association with 7 other families when we had our cabin. The fees covered costs of road maintenance and trash removal ad such. On a rotation, each couple would take on the responsibilty of collecting dues and paying the necessary bills involved. They called this position "President". I clearly remember on Saturday when we were at our home and not at the cabin when I recieved a call from one of the cabin's owner. She wanted to tell me that there were too many weeds in the lake and that she wanted us to come and rake them out. (you can't make this stuff up!). As a group we have purchased a shed and the men constructed it to hole various things like the long handled lake rake that was also purchased. I told her where the rake was and that she had a key to the shed (not mentioning that her husband had not participated in the build). She was furious, telling me that since we were handling all things related tothe association that year, we were well paid to get out there and take care of it! I laughed and laughed, then hung up!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! With the position of "President" comes great responsibility. Financially. Which should not extend to performing menial tasks for the rest of the association at their whim!
DeleteMy mom and about a dozen residents took turns for a year, collecting money for the water bill along their road. One person would get the bill, pay it, and collect from the others. Somebody was always complaining because one family got a swimming pool, and another had cows. But there was no way to measure the individual usage. The good thing is that everyone paid. Eventually.
With regards to your water payment in the comment above, we have the same system here, 110 flats all using from the main water supply and the bill for the water is divided evenly among the tenants so we all pay the same. If ome flats are unoccupied the bill is divided among however many tenats there are.
ReplyDeletei always wonder if there can't be a more permanent solution to the yearly gravel, like a solid concrete road, which would cost a fortune of course, so perhaps a blacktop instead. I know the reasons why not, but I still dream.
We also dream, but that will never happen. Too many people would not want to pay, and there would be arguments about how far the blacktop would go, with people living closer to the county road not wanting to pay for blacktop going deeper into our enclave, since they don't use that part.
DeleteThere is not an official agency that collects taxes to cover roads, even gravel roads?
ReplyDeleteThe county collects the taxes, and disperses them to assorted entities, such as the road department, ambulance department, public schools, junior college, etc. Private roads are not covered. We have 4-5 miles of road.
DeleteThe general public uses part of it as a short cut from one county road to another, even though both ends are marked as PRIVATE. The county itself even marked it as a detour when they rebuilt the bridge down by Mailbox Row. But no funds or maintenance are applied to our roads here, since they are private. It was once a large farm, then split into 10-acre plots.
Before our country road was hard topped, we lived with gravel and mud, and the potholes, about 10 miles of them. Driving down the road was like an obstacle course.
ReplyDeleteSame here! I think some potholes go all the way to China.
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