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Edgelea homeowners a step closer to repaving

Thursday, January 19, 2012
By JARED JERNAGAN, Assistant Editor

Edgelea homeowners are one step closer to new pavement on their crumbling streets.

On Tuesday the Putnam County Council gave official approval to the expenditure of $150,000 for a repaving project in the subdivision north of Greencastle.

As with previous discussions of the issue, council members expressed a lot of misgivings about the project, but said they couldn't say no with residents of the area paying the lion's share of the cost.

"On all the other roads we're responsible for, nobody else is stepping up and saying, 'We're willing to pay 75 percent.' They are at least putting their money where their mouth is," councilman Phil Gick said.

The measure passed 6-0, with Roger Deck abstaining from the vote.

The repaving project, which will also include curbs and drainage, comes at a $1.45 million price tag. The residents will pay for most of the bond needed to cover these costs through a yearly assessment of $592 added to their property taxes.

The bond will run for 20 years.

Besides the initial cost of $150,000, the county will also pay $20,000 for each of the next 20 years, an ongoing cost that worries some on the council.

Larry Parker, who abstained from the previous vote, said he is unsure where the money will come from as county budgets continue to get tighter.

However, county officials have said again and again they cannot argue with the overwhelming support the project has from Edgelea's residents. More than 90 percent of homeowners expressed their willingness to take on the added burden even though the roads are the responsibility of the county.

The commissioners also approved an additional appropriation of $15,600 for part-time help in the Assessor's Office.

Assessor Nancy Dennis said the money will help her department retain data collectors who are vital in completing the county's reassessment process.

She said the money should get her through to the end of reassessment.

"Right now, I believe the $15,600 will get me through with the people I have presently," Dennis said.

Dennis also noted that the cost is mostly offset by $12,000 she carried over from her 2011 budget.

The council kept its organization the same as 2011, re-electing Darrel Thomas as president and Keith Berry as vice president. All council appointments to board also remain the same.

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  • I think that the council should have researched further as I know that there are many homeowners who did not know about this until it was in the paper last time!? So...how does this committee think that everyone was willing to support this who owns a home in Edgelea!? There are many homeowners who had questions and concerns and did not sign the petition! Very saddened that the information was not verified.

    -- Posted by Greencastle7 on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, at 8:32 AM

  • I commend the residents of Edgelea for actually taking the initiative to get their roads fixed. However, one has to wonder what exactly their county taxes and wheel taxes are being used for. These roads are in horrible shape and had the county put a little bit of money into maintaining them earlier perhaps the residents and the county wouldn't have had to pony up so much money. Also whats the over/under for how long befor Edgelea is annexed by the city? My guess would be about 1 day after the road work is done.

    -- Posted by hometownboy on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, at 9:52 AM

  • The city won't annex Edgelea till they put in a sewer system.

    -- Posted by localman on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, at 1:50 PM

  • The city will not annex Edgelea because of the cost for sewer service. Makes more sense for the city to wait until the curbs and new pavement are down and then tear it up to put new sewers in (see Arlington St.,Ave. D)after annexed.

    -- Posted by Vernie1 on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, at 1:53 PM

  • Wow, so many different statements that have not withstood the scrutiny of actually checking the facts. I want to thank Roger Deck for being the smartest person on the County Council that day. The 90% number is completely fabricated -- period. I've personally talked with too many people that either did not support the proposal or have never heard of a petition and did not sign up for any of this. The 90% may reflect the small group that meets in secret and 9 out of 10 of them agreed to it. B-G please stop printing this number unless you can verify the names and the numbers or at least bring this to a public meeting and take a vote of the owners of these properties.

    Does this assessment apply equally to the owners of all properties or is it selective? What about the owners who own multiple undeveloped lots? They were not included in the original city proposal -- did they exclude themselves again?

    I've never heard of the Barrett Law being used where no public hearing was held on an issue -- yet that seems to be the case here. Is this even legal? My brain does not allow me to understand this law and I've read through most of it, on-line, and the actual authority is mind boggling at the very least. I guess this is why we have lawyers to sort through these facts. I even failed to determine why we even pay taxes, because there seems to be no reason for the county or the state to actually use this money for the intended purpose. Maybe I'm wrong and this is being done under some other authority that allows the county to get a bond to finance this at the owner's expense. How about it B-G, can we report on this aspect -- it's has not been covered or addressed.

    The County Council and the Commissioners can't explain where our tax money went for the last 25+ years -- it's just gone and it wasn't here when I got here attitude. Let's ask everyone a very simple basic question and see where this discussion goes. What happens in about 10-12 years, after everyone has been paying approximately $600 per year for road resurfacing, when the road needs additional repairs and resurfacing again? Will the county magically find the money then to maintain and repair this road or will we have this discussion again? If we were chumps once, why not expect us to do it again at even greater expense.

    Now I have one final question for anyone that cares. How many people will just pack up and move because of what is happening now? I know we lost about 3 households just from the city proposal and it never gained more than about 35% support. And remember this will improve our property values -- I wonder if it will help the foreclosed properties also?

    -- Posted by gunner on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, at 7:24 PM

  • I know for a Fact that if you opposed it, the couple that carried the petition on our street, DID NOT LET YOU SIGN IT IN OPPOSITION.

    -- Posted by NeverChanges on Fri, Jan 20, 2012, at 6:09 AM

  • With this new assessment, no one will be able to sell a home in Edgelea. The neighborhood already has the plague of "bad septics" and now add this assessment to the property and they will never be able to sell properties. This is very sad indeed. I have heard many homeowners say they would rather pay the one time assessment for the city annex (which includes new streets along with many other things) than to pay this 20 year assessment for JUST road repavement.

    -- Posted by Greencastle7 on Fri, Jan 20, 2012, at 10:54 AM

  • Is there a form that 90% signed? Itoo know too many who knew nothing of this and never signed anything! They may fix the roads now...but if the county is worried about finding thier share of the money, does that mean the roads will be like they are now in 10 years because there's no money to repair them! Fixing drains....do they have an actual signed document that says the amount is correct? Why not ACTUALLY find out all information then let the know the amount in advance?

    -- Posted by hereitis on Fri, Jan 20, 2012, at 8:25 PM

  • As noted in the 4th paragraph, "On all the roads we're responsible for, nobody else is stepping up and saying "We're willing to pay 75%.... ", that says is all. Only those of us here in Edgelea are stupid enough to pay for our own, already taxed services. Thanks to the county commissioners for their negligence over the years in allowing the roads to deteriorate to the present level.

    As thecynic, I question the 90 % approval figure, and as to how the question was framed to all who signed. Quite honestly I was always under the impression that the people in Edgelea were a little brighter then it appears that they are.

    -- Posted by thecynic on Sat, Jan 21, 2012, at 11:53 AM

  • The natives seem to be restless up on the Hill......

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Sat, Jan 21, 2012, at 4:35 PM

  • goodness, folks, if you did not sign the petition or are not in agreement, there was always the option of showing up at the commissioners meeting and voicing your opinion directly to them.

    Edgelea has benefited from lower county taxes vs. higher town taxes all these years. If the subdivision was in GC, there would be the higher taxes to pay for the paving. The county tax is not formulated to paved subdivisions.

    -- Posted by letspulltogether on Mon, Jan 23, 2012, at 12:20 PM

  • As a resident in Edgelea, I know I was never asked to sign a petition! I did not agree to the added expense that I will now have to pay for roads that are owned by the county. It seems there are many more that did not approve of this either. As a matter of fact, as stated in a previous comment, I knew nothing of it until someone pointed it out in the paper! So if sassylass, I knew nothing of it, how would I have known to show up at the commisioners meeting? We still pay taxes, whether or not you believe they are enough is not relevant, we still pay. Sounds to me like this was a handful fo residents that approve of paying out of pocket for road repairs that should be funded by the county, not by me! I would like to see this so called petition that suggests 90% approval for this project! As I said I know I was never asked to sign this petition. Step up and take some responsibility here Putnam County, these roads are your responsibility. As for the so called annual maintenance on the roads, I hardly think that the two guys who come through here with a shovel and some aspahlt patch constitutes road maintenance!

    -- Posted by concernedaswell on Mon, Jan 23, 2012, at 8:08 PM

  • "Is unsure where the money will come from as county budgets continue to get tighter." WHAT? If the council is unsure of where the money will come from why are they agreeing to this? They need to either set aside money for the bond payments now or not do this project at all. What happens if they undertake this and then can't pay back the bond? Will Edgelea residents have a lean placed on their properties until the bond is paid back? Seems like a very bad idea to me.

    -- Posted by hometownboy on Thu, Jan 26, 2012, at 3:51 PM
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