PHOTO: County resident Christa Carnley addressing the Board of County Commissioners on June 6.
Four of the county’s residents who live along Cat Creek Road — County Road 700 — spoke during yesterday’s Archuleta Board of County Commissioners’ meeting.
Commission chair Ronnie Maez reminded the speakers that they are allowed three minutes to share their thoughts.
The first speaker, Christa Carnley, provided the commissioners with a petition signed by 75 residents who use CR 700, and then managed to fit a rather impressive number of comments into her allotted three minutes, although I confess my brain apparently doesn’t work as fast as Ms. Carnley is able to speak. (She explained after the meeting that her comments would have taken five minutes if she had spoken at a normal conversational pace. Fortunately, she provided the Daily Post with a printed copy of her comments, as well as copies of the petition.)
Notably, Ms. Carnley shared a number of solutions to what sounds like a miserable situation for the residents on Cat Creek Road. The problems, and possible solutions, were similar to the ones noted in the May 25 letter quoted in Part One of this article series.
One comment stood out to me:
We have high expectations[for] the new dust mitigation product. However, gravel is always the best option to keep the integrity of a road intact. County Road 700 has not been fully graveled in 30+ years.
If that statement is true (as I assume it is) then the property owners and taxpayers along CR 700 has been seriously neglected. In my experience, some County-maintained roads receive fresh gravel every couple of years.
She concluded her comments:
Though I am presenting this information, the petition and process is supported by the residents of County Road 700 as demonstrated by the signatures our petition has received. This is truly a community effort. Together, we ask you to uphold the standards of service stated in your governing documents. The terrible condition of the road is significantly and negatively impacting our quality of life. Thanks you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Ms. Carnley was followed by three additional CR 700 property owners who suggested that the closure of the Pagosa Junction Bridge, by the BOCC, has generated additional traffic on CR 700, including large trucks and drivers with limited regard for speed limits.
All of the testimony painted a picture of a poorly-maintained county road.
Commission chair Ronnie Maez responded to questions from property owner LuAnn Baker, informing her that he has personally contacted the Chair of the Southern Ute Tribal Council and that conversations are in progress, to resolve the Pagosa Junction Bridge issue.
Following the BOCC meeting, Ms. Carnley and her husband Chadd (and their two children) remained in the lobby of the County Administration Building for maybe 15 minutes (or more?) in conversation with Public Works Director Kevin Pogue, trading thoughts about how the road can be better maintained.
Mr. Pogue admitted that the problems are long-standing, and that the proper road profile — higher in the center and sloping towards the ditches on either side — has not been as well-maintained as it should have been.
The conversation appeared to be friendly. But intense.
An brief email arrived later in the day.
It was a pleasure meeting you today. We had a very good conversation with public works director Kevin Pogue, along with County commissioners Ronnie Maez and Warren Brown . We feel like this is going in the right direction and we will see results.
Christa Carnley
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.