Great Falls Tribune

 

December 7, 2008

 

Road rage: Letters accuse county of playing favorites with rural repairs; not so, officials say

By KARL PUCKETT
Tribune Staff Writer

Anonymous letters alleged Cascade County quickly rebuilt Wiegand Park Road near Cascade earlier this fall for $66,000 at the urging of the out-of-state owners of a nearby guest ranch — including former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.

With 200 of the county's 900 miles of gravel roads rated as "failed," road supervisor Dave Sutton is used to receiving more brickbats than bouquets from frustrated residents. However, the anonymous charges still jolted him like a washboard rattles a car on some of the rural roads under his care.

"I try to rate these as honestly and straightforward as we can," Sutton said.

The unsigned letters addressing the Wiegand project apparently were mailed by a resident or residents of Wilson Butte Road, another battered road in the county that gets far more traffic. The county attorney's office, looked and found nothing to them. The road department has since moved on to its next scheduled project — improving Wilson Butte Road.

Since 2005, when Sutton took the county's top road job, he has worked on a maintenance schedule that prioritizes improvements based on road conditions rather than who complains the loudest. He's even come up with a David Letterman-like Top 20 list of the worst roads in Cascade County to help guide the work.

That's why the charges of unfair prioritization stung. Sutton insists that improvements to Wiegand Park Road, which were completed in September, did not make the Top 20 because of a strong-arm by Elway or anybody else.

"It was a goat trail," he said.

Cascade County maintains 460 roads stretching 1,200 miles, 900 of which are gravel.

It's Sutton's job to keep them drivable or take the heat.

"I can only please one person a day and today isn't your day," reads a sign hanging in his office.

The Cascade County Road Department's annual $2.4 million budget falls far short of what's needed to maintain the sprawling rural road system, which is why Sutton puts so much stock in the Top 20 list.

In the past, the squeaky wheel usually got the grease, which Sutton said was unfair.

"Sooner or later, the little guy with a bad road has to get some assistance," he said.

Sutton implemented a 10-point road condition rating system to guide maintenance when he became the county's road supervisor, but he's recently switched new five-point rating, with a score of 5 being excellent and a score of 1 meaning the road is considered "failed."

The five-point system, which was developed at the University of Wisconsin, is used by road departments across Montana, Sutton said.

The ratings help the county address maintenance needs objectively, both on high-volume traffic roads, such as Wilson Butte Road, and less-used roads, such as Wiegand Park Road, Sutton said. The Top 20 list, which is revised annually using the five-point gauge, guides where and when improvements are scheduled, Sutton said. The list is made up of the top two worst roads in each of the county's 10 maintenance areas, with each ranked in no particular order.

The three-mile, $66,000 Wiegand Park Road project was completed south of Cascade, vastly improving its drivability, in September. Screams of bloody murder soon followed.

"How can we remain silent when such injustice is taking place in this county?" one writer asked.

The letters turned up in the mailboxes of Wilson Butte Road residents, the media and Cascade County Attorney Brant Light.

The correspondence was accompanied by pictures, long lists of allegations and even a bumper sticker that read: "Pray For Me. I Drive Wilson Butte Road."

The writers called for an investigation into what was described as neglect of Wilson Butte Road, which they noted had high traffic. The letters also alleged that the owners of the Bell Cross Ranch used their influence to get Wiegand Park Road moved up the list. The ranch was constructed four years ago on Wiegand Park Road by Phoenix land developer Mike Ingram and several investors, including Elway.

"Personally, I'm a Cowboys fan," County Commissioner Joe Briggs joked. "So John Elway doesn't impress me."

Turning serious, Briggs described the allegations of improper influence as "hogwash," adding that if somebody has a beef with the county they make it face-to-face, not anonymously.

"Rarely do we get complaints when we get projects done," Commissioner Peggy Beltrone said.

Some of the concerns raised in the letters, such as Wilson Butte Road being neglected even though it's heavily traveled, aren't new.

"We get traffic by here that's unbelievable, and what they are going to do about it is a good question," said Ralph Bracket, a Wilson Butte Road resident since 1971.

In the past, residents have discussed forming a rural improvement district to pay for paving the road. When RIDs are formed, the county takes out a loan on behalf of residents to get the work done, and then residents pay it back through increased annual property tax assessments. However, that proposal failed to get off the ground because not everybody would be able to afford the paving assessments, Bracket said.

Other accusations in the letters went further, alleging a lavish dinner party was held for county commissioners at the guest ranch, during which they were convinced to complete the Wiegand Park Road improvements in time for the fall hunting season to accommodate the ranch's out-of-state hunting guests.

"It's absolutely false," Beltrone said.

She said that she and commission Chairman Lance Olson did go to the Bell Cross Ranch, but they attended a reception prior to the C.M. Russell Art Auction in Great Falls. Ingram was honorary co-chairman of the auction.

The allegations were all the talk at a recent neighborhood association meeting in the Russell Lane area off Wilson Butte Road, said Sandee Neal.

"Something stinks," she said.

"We sure need some help out here," added Gary Schlaeger, another Wilson Butte-area resident.

Ingram disputed the allegations during the meeting.

"It's easy to start rumors and stories," Ingram said.

The guest ranch was not constructed primarily for hunting, he said, but for the owners and their families to experience "western heritage." Elway is the most famous investor, he said, but noted that Hall of Famer is just one of several people who have bought into the ranch. He's visited the property once, Ingram said.

"The fact there were personalities involved in terms of ownership, that's really a nonissue in how the road department scheduled their road upkeep," said Deputy County Civil Attorney Carey Ann Shannon, who checked the allegations for the county attorney's office.

Longtime residents of Weigand Park Road have asked for an upgrade for years, Sutton said.

"Every time it snowed, it just drifted and covered the road," said Wiegand Park Road resident Penny Clark.

Two miles of the road were fixed a couple of years ago, but the county postponed further work until this year because crews were run off at gun point by a property owner who didn't want the road improved, Sutton said.

Even as the allegations were being raised, county road crews were moving on to their next project, a 10-mile, $176,778 sub-grade and gravel surfacing job to improve a portion of the 12-mile-long Wilson Butte Road. Work is close to wrapping up, Sutton said.

Since 2006, the county has completed 91 miles of sub-grade work, which is when workers need to raise the road's foundation and shape it into a crown to improve water runoff and reduce snow drifts. In addition, surfacing gravel was applied to 42 miles of road each year.

The Wilson Butte job was on Sutton's Top 20 list, too. However Wiegand Park Road was in such tough shape "it was off the rating scale," Sutton said.

"It's amazing to see work being done," said Anne Key, who lives on Russell Ranch Lane, which connects to Wilson Butte Road.

Employees at tire-selling businesses in town know "everyone of us by first name," said Key, noting that Wilson Butte Road can chew up tires as if they were candy.

Sutton said he sympathizes with Wilson Butte Road residents.

"It's a concern," he said.

However, he notes that the county spent $298,980 on the road between 1995 and 2007, and collected roughly $80,000 in road taxes — $10,124 in 2008 — from 92 parcels located in that area.

Next on the county's list of 2008 projects is a $171,000 upgrade to West Eden Road.

In 2009, Stockett, Calvert, Stuckey, Vinyard and Enger Cutoff roads are slated for improvements.

With all the work going on, complaints aren't the only letters Sutton sees, though they are the most frequent.

"Once in a while my crews get ''atta boys,'" said Sutton, producing a handwritten thank-you note from a pile. "But they're few and far between."

Additional Facts

How roads rate

 

Cascade County has a five-point rating system for gravel roads that guides maintenance.

What follows is the number of miles countywide in each category.

 

5: Excellent, 90 miles

4: Good, 436 miles

3: Fair, 520 miles

2: Poor, 300 miles

1: Failed, 200 miles

 

This is the Top 20 list of Cascade County's worst roads as of Dec. 1, including number of miles to be improved and the road's condition on a five-point scale the county uses to rate the condition of roads, according to Dave Sutton, the county's road supervisor. The roads are listed in no particular order.

1. Old Fort Shaw Road, Simms, 3.9 miles, 2

2. Upper Birdtail Creek Road, Simms, 11 miles, 1

3. Goetz Road, Sun River, 4.4 miles, 1

4. Lubbie Road, Sun River, 5.5 miles, 1

5. Portage East, Portage, 4.25, 2

6. Powerline Road, Portage, 4.5 miles, 2

7. McCoy Road, Belt, 8 miles, 2

8. Enger Cutoff Road, Belt, 3.8 miles, 2

9. Highwood East, Armington, 11 miles, 2

10. Willow Creek N., Armington, 5.4 miles, 2

11. Brigman Coulee Road, Monarch, 10.5 miles, 2

12. Carpenter/Hardy Creek roads, Monarch, 4.8 miles, 1

13. West Eden Road, Stockett, 8.6 miles, 1

14. Calvert Road, Stockett, 15 miles, 1

15. Boston Coulee Road, Milligan, 6.4 miles, 1

16. Lower Milligan Road, Milligan, 6.9 miles, 2

17. River Road, Cascade, 6.2 miles, 2

18. Fairhaven/Old Ulm-Cascade Road, Cascade, 7 miles, 2

19. Manchester North, Great Falls, 6.5 miles, 1

20. Collins Road, Great Falls, 5.9 miles, 2

 

By Tribune Staff

The Top 20 list isn't carved in stone like the Ten Commandments, Road Supervisor Dave Sutton said.

Instead, it's a guide.

"I try to stick to it," he said.

However, weather conditions, changing roads conditions and traffic can interrupt the planned maintenance schedule, Sutton said.

"It depends on how fast they come apart," he said.

Sutton uses a five-point rating system to decide which roads are placed on the Top 20 list, with a score of 1 meaning a road is "failed" and a 5 signifying an "excellent" road. Most all of the roads on the Top 20 list are rated as a 1, but there are a few 2s on the list as well.

The Top 20 list is made up of the two worst roads in each of the county's 10 maintenance areas.

The roads on the list are not ranked in any particular order, Sutton said.