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[Greene County Daily World]
Greene County, Indiana ~ Saturday, July 4, 2009
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Video Update: Rural Linton man says ditch work is the answer for his road

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

(Photo)
PICTURE SHOW: Paul Anderson of rural Linton (left) shows Greene County Commissioners President Bart Beard pictures of his road -- County Road 300N in Stockton Township. Anderson claims the county needs to clean the ditches along the road, which will help keep the road in better condition.
(Greene County Daily World/Nick Schneider) [Order this photo]

Rural Linton resident Paul Anderson says the county has been "throwing away its money" on work that has been done on his road in the last five years because ditch work was never done.

Anderson lives on County Road 300N -- just north of County Road 125W in Stockton Township.

He brought photographs to Tuesday morning's Greene County Commissioner's meeting to help plead his case.

Anderson explained there are 27 houses in a one-mile stretch of the road. Several years ago water frequently ran down the road -- washing gravel away.

"Every year, they (the county) put tons of gravel on it. I called and asked why they didn't clean out the ditches to stop this. They (the highway department) said they didn't have a loader," Anderson told the commissioners.

He further explained that about five years ago the road was unexpectedly paved. But the ditches were still not cleaned out.

"The next spring you couldn't drive down the road. It just fell through," Anderson said.

About a year ago, the road was chip and sealed -- again with no ditch work completed.

"You can't drive down the road north of our house now. If I want to go north from my house I have to turn south and go to CR 425 to CR300, go to the highway and then go north," Anderson said. "I want something done. This county is just throwing money away on this thing over and over. You are just throwing money into this thing and not fixing it. Somebody needs to clean the ditches to get the water off of the road."

District 1 Commissioner Kermit Holtsclaw said he understood Anderson's problem and he added, "We have that all over the county."

He continued, "The work has to definitely be improved. We all know that."

Click on the arrow to hear and see video comments from Commissioner Kermit Holtsclaw and resident Paul Anderson:

Commissioner's president Bart Beard, who represents Anderson's district, agreed and directed road superintendent Mike Hennette to look into the problem.

"Mike, if it needs ditched that's what we need to get down there and get it done," Beard said. "We do have a lot of bad roads right now, but there is no excuse for this. There is no sense fixing it up if it is not taken care of."


Comments
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You've got to know who are the Democrats and who are the Republicans, Mr.Robato. That's how you know who to point your finger at while you're trying to figure out what should have been done instead of just doing it.

-- Posted by Good Neighbor on Fri, Jan 9, 2009, at 2:43 PM

Im not sure it matters who is democrats, or republicans. Isnt there a budget involved here?

-- Posted by Mr. Robato on Thu, Jan 8, 2009, at 2:45 PM

You've got what you wanted Greene County....3 Democrats as Commissioners! Let's see just how big of an improvement this will be.................And, with the Council having a majority of Democrats, things should really get rolling, huh?

-- Posted by on the Blood trail on Wed, Jan 7, 2009, at 5:47 PM

Ok! enough is enough,This county has so much bull!The county highway does have a dirt loader who ever said they didn't is a liar. First of all if you use a road grader to make a ditch or to clean one out you will need a dirt loader to pick up the dirt from the road.Cutting the shoulders away from the road edge is better suited with a road grader and dirt loader. The county also owns gradalls, a machine used for ditching. So here's the problem.....The county highway! It has been for a long long time,until the commissioner stop appointing their buddies or good "ole boys" to the superintend job a proactive approach will never happen, it will just be reactive and just make up excusses. I hope the commissioners read this and understand that it is time clean house at the highway dept.starting with the Foremans. and thats no Bull!

-- Posted by SlickWilly on Wed, Jan 7, 2009, at 11:46 AM

We have lived on Co Rd.300N. for nearly 13 years and nothing has been done to the ditches on this road all the while we've been here.Other homeowners have been allowed to install culverts and cover them over,directly into our ditch,which causes an even larger problem.

We appreciate the paving that was done.It took out a large section of very bumpy road,which caused a deadly accident 10 years ago,but,it won't do much good for very long if the ditches aren't cleaned out.

If notification has been in the commisioners' office for 1 1/2 years,then why hasn't it been looked at and addressed? At least let the taxpayers know what is being done instead of us having to ask.

Thank you.

-- Posted by gravytrain on Wed, Jan 7, 2009, at 7:24 AM

Let's hope that the new superintendent, Mike Hennette has read this article & knows that residents are paying attention to how tax dollars are being wasted. Hopefully the next a resident calls the first time to explain how to better use tax dollars the Highway Dept. won't say "We don'thave a loader". They should immediately contact an engineer, look into the cost of renting a loader and not just ignore the suggestion and a few years later pave over it. Just use a common sense approach & remember that there are a lot of people in this county from whom they can gain some valuable insight.

-- Posted by Good Neighbor on Tue, Jan 6, 2009, at 11:17 PM

sorry - used wrong word- the ditch is caving in the cavity is working it was to the center of the road.

-- Posted by gary g on Tue, Jan 6, 2009, at 9:48 PM

The county road by our place is so bad it it was a very deep ravine from the caving in toward the center of the road.

-- Posted by gary g on Tue, Jan 6, 2009, at 9:46 PM


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