County commissioners asked to review subdivision

A subdivision with roads that were not built to county specifications will have a site review by the commissioners, at the request of the Putnam County Community Foundation.

George Murphey and Alan Stanley told the commissioners Kristina Warren, Gene Beck and Jim Baird that the Parker Place Subdivision west of Cloverdale has roads that are only 20-21 feet wide, though the road base is four inches deep and meets the county requirement. At the time the residential area was developed, however, the roads should have been 24 feet wide. The right-of-way is large enough, though and the cul-de-sacs do meet the required size.

After the developer defaulted financially, the First National Bank of Cloverdale took over ownership of the unsold lots. However, Murphey said, the bank now wants to give the property to the foundation, which will sell the lots and put the money into the foundation. The income off that money would then be given to both the foundation and the Cloverdale Civic League.

In 1999, the Cloverdale Town Council approved the subdivision, and the town plan commission dedicated the roads to the county to maintain the roads as a public thoroughfare. However, the county did not take over road maintenance since the roads did not meet county specs.

The commissioners also heard that the subdivision has 44 lots platted, but not all of them are buildable due to the lack of adequate sewer. There is a sewer line running past the property. The existing homes are already tied into the town water utility. There is also some ditching and erosion control needed for some of the lots.

The commissioners agreed to visit the subdivision to examine the area, and tabled the issue until their Dec. 17 meeting.

In other business, the commissioners:

* Reviewed the annual bids for equipment and supplies submitted to the county highway department.

* Learned the concrete floors in the courthouse have no reinforcing steel inside them, and that could be a future problem with the weight load some offices now have. Radar scans of the floors by Resource International of Columbus, Ohio, revealed the lack of steel. Architect Burnsworth said he will come up with some remedies for the situation so that floors won't give way due to the weight loads.

* Approved funding of $80,000 for the annual contract with Operation Life to provide ambulance service in the county.

* Learned that Operation Life ambulance service will be building a substation in Bainbridge. They have reached a 30-year lease with the Bainbridge Fire Department and will build on to the east side of the new fire station.

The commissioners set their regular meetings for the first and third Mondays of each month at the courthouse annex, 209 W. Liberty St., Greencastle.

The meeting times will change. The first meeting of each month is at 9 a.m. and the second meeting will be at 6 p.m. That will allow access to the public during both the daytime and at evening.