From January through July, 2012, your road department logged the following man-hours in each county commission district:
District 1: 1256 hours (the number of hours on Rd 5, 7, Limestone, etc. in this district by the wind farm contractors is not known - it was likely a bunch)
District 2: 1863 hours
District 3: 1242 hours (and this group also did added work in Dist 2)
Think it's all about the Road Super? I don't, but I could be wrong.
Well there certainly wasn't much of a presence on Limestone by the county, a couple of days cutting out ditches, perhaps. The rest was Harrods and Starbucks. Before that, Max Jantz.
They have been working on Rock, but I haven't checked it out. Good question, Patriot.
This question might not quite fit the thread, but------
When the districts were redrawn, moving Union Center from District Two to District Three, who became responsible for the roads in Union Center?
Quote from: Wilma on August 30, 2012, 11:25:01 AM
This question might not quite fit the thread, but------
When the districts were redrawn, moving Union Center from District Two to District Three, who became responsible for the roads in Union Center?
Honestly, Wilma, I'm not positive. But I think the road areas remained unchanged. Perhaps one of the roadfolk could enlighten us.
Found some added info in my notes that might help. Seems the road districts may well follow commissioner districts & were changed at the same time...
Total miles of road in each district:
Dist Miles Hours Jan-Jul 2012 Hours per mile
1 270 1256 4.65
2 158 1863 11.79
3 300 1242 4.14
Looks to me like District 2 (Howard/Paw Paw Twps) got about 2.7 times as much attention as the other districts. Begs the question: Are the roads in Commissioner Hendricks' district really twice as bad as roads everywhere else?
In my estimation then, shouldn't the personnel in the road department be shifted, also. Shouldn't Dist. 3's personnel be increased and Dist. 2's decreased? Instead, I have noticed more workers at the yard in Howard instead of fewer. How does the number of workers compare to the number of miles in each district?
Honestly I didn't bring all this up to demonstrate anything other than the fact that all areas are being given considerable attention. The reason is that I've heard of some folks saying there was a MUCH bigger disparity between the districts than there really is. And... if one accounts for the efforts in the commission approved 'major' upgrade plan on areas like Rock Rd in Paw Paw township, the differences aren't that remarkable. Are there some other issues that may impact all this... probably. But, overall, anyone who says a district is getting as few as a couple of hundred man hours of attention is obviously mistaken. Facts can be funny that way.
One thing about time clocks though, they don't know what was done by the one punching them. Without someone watching, one could log hours every day and do nothing. I'm not saying that is happening, rather, I have seen it happen.
Obviously the work on Rock is in part due to a tow charge incurred when a feed truck got stuck out by the Palmer ranch, which I was told the county paid. Sure would be nice to have some of that mud right now. ;D
I have to admit Rock road looks better but the size of that gravel is hell on tires. You can't afford to drive on it. You'll be replacing a tire every month
Very observant of you Wilma to notice the increase of men in the District 2 Howard shop area. The roads do seem to be more important in District 2 area and that would suggest why men and equipment from Moline and Longton were pulled to come to District 2. I know you're not the only one that has noticed this, but while District 2 gets miles of ditching, tree pulling, new culverts, thousands of tons of new rock, etc., the rest of the county is going to shit. This is not just my opinion; drive the roads and compare. Thanks for being so observant about such a massive effort to repair roads before District 2 and 3's Elections...---Mr. KSHillbillys
Then I am not just seeing things. I used to count four men standing outside the shop door with cups in their hands, but now I count six or more.
I DROVE RD. 8 FROM HIGHWAY 166 TO 160 CHAUTAUQUA CO. ROADS TWICE AS WIDE AS ELK CO. DROVE THEM AT A SPEED OF 50 MPH TO FAST BUT THEY WERE THAT GOOD OF SHAPE HIT ELK CO.DROPED DOWN TO ABOUT 25MPH THAT MORNING ONE OF THE COUNTY BOYS TOLD ME BE SMART TO TAKE HIGHWAY ALL THE WAY
I have had to give up oe of the great pleasures I had, living here in Elk County. I used to really love going up and down the beautiful county roads, just enjoying this great land. The big rock has taken care of that pleasure; at least one good reason for all concerned to lose their position with the county IMHO. Start with the commission, and work downward to anyone involved. :P :P
sixdogsmom I really hope you aren't including the guys that actually haul and grade that rock in your accesment.
Kshillbilly, you couldn't be more right. Maybe those folks living in the "corners of the county" ought to make their voices heard a little louder.
Patriot I dont know where you got your numbers of miles per dist.,but youre alittle short,baybe they gave some away but dist 2 which is Howard shop ,when I was bladeing had over 600 miles are maybe more.They have close to 1000 miles of roads to take care ofcounty wide.doing best they can,never getting at a boy keep up the good work. SO AT ABOY!!!!
when are they going to learn giving the same man more money is only going to get more of the same? And working on 50 ft. of a road ain't working on the road.
Quote from: upoladeb on September 10, 2012, 12:32:04 PM
when are they going to learn giving the same man more money is only going to get more of the same? And working on 50 ft. of a road ain't working on the road.
Ok so what do you suggest? Just start stringing rock without any ditch work or reshaping? Because that has worked so well in the past :P
More people and better equipment would be a good start in my book. You can't expect 3 or 4 people to be able to maintain 2, 3, or 400 miles of roads.
quit wasting money driving road graders,grade the road.to start....and how many grader operators does it take to run a chainsaw or mower?
Well, first of all it doesn't really do any good to grade a road if there is not enough material to work with. Secondly, if the road is bone dry it doesn't really do any good to grade it, all that happens then is that you end up losing the fines in what material is on the road, all that is left then big rock. And we all know how much everyone in the county hates that.
Futhermore, seeing as how there are only 2 mowers in the county...well that should answer that question.
As for chainsaws, I say the more the guys out there the better. If for safety reasons if nothing else. However, if you ask a certain commissioner we don't even need chainsaws...because we have an excavator. According to her/him all we need to do is drive that heavy piece of equipment (which by the way would tear up the roads even more) up and down the county roads and just rip the trees out.
If you really want to see some improvement then tell the commissioners to stop trying to mircomanage the road crew, and let them do their jobs.
I think anyone who's been on the forum very long knows that is what Patriot and Ross have been suggesting for some time now.
no wonder the ditches don't get mowed,as for the trees sometime brains trumps brawn.And if its a women county commisioner that thinks cats are better then husqvarna some women aint smart
Quote from: upoladeb on September 15, 2012, 01:18:11 PM
no wonder the ditches don't get mowed,as for the trees sometime brains trumps brawn.And if its a women county commisioner that thinks cats are better then husqvarna some women aint smart
welll they got bigger problems than the ditchs. Folks can't drive down road 10 today. Mud is up to the belly of a vehicle. two locations especially are starting at greenwood cty line going south about 300 feet or so its a mud pit. then past that down at turkey road i bottomed my pickup out in the mud, barely got through only because i realized it was deep and i stepped on it. and then that long hill up to settler road is a disaster. Total fubar!
I guess if someone gets stuck and has to call a tow truck they'll just bill the county for the fee cause the roads are impassable.
Hasn't your area always been that way though? I remember Daddy years ago talking about harnessing Blondie to help pull some vehicles out during mud season. I also think I remember that rural owners got a tax reduction for keeping their own ditches clear.
well they don't no longer if ever,sometimes i swear they hide and watch while i mow the 4ft tall weeds with my 22" push mower then come along with there 5 ft mower and mow .Let me tell ya the ridges they leave when they drag(i won't call it grading) the road are ruff on the old doll!!!