County talks right-of-way-occupancy cleanup issues

Cleanup—or the lack thereof—by a contractor on county right of way following the installation of utilities in the Custer Highlands area has led Custer County Highway Department superintendent to request a modification to the county’s right of way occupancy application.
Highway department superintendent Jess Doyle said the request to change the application is something that likely should have happened three years ago, saying the county’s application “has always been lacking” while expressing “extreme dissatisfaction” with the cleanup that took place after a contractor hired by RT Communications installed utilities within county right of way.
Doyle addressed the issue at the April 26 meeting of the Custer County Commission, saying he spoke with the project engineer for RT Communications, telling the engineer the contractor hired by RT Communications has a long way to go on the cleanup before he is satisfied.
Doyle said he went out to the site and took video, saying “there are very few places they don’t have to go back and clean up.”
“We have rocks laying everywhere that are obstructions in the right of way. They are a danger to the traveling public should something go wrong,” Doyle said.
Doyle said in discussions with members of the Custer Highlands Road District, they are also upset about what has been done. Doyle said during the installation process private individual driveway culverts were plowed through and nothing has been done to fix them.
“It’s a wreck,” he said.
The carnage doesn’t end there, he said, as the contractors are always instructed to put the utilities into the outermost limits of public right of way, but that is not happening in this case.
“They are putting them at the road edge. They are putting them in the middle of the ditch and then they backfill our ditches so it ruins our drainage and ruins our roadways,” he said.
A similar problem is taking place on Lower French Creek, Doyle said, as the work in that right of way has resulted in a ditch that was recently fixed “destroyed” again. However, Doyle said he was confident engineers on that project would make sure the ditch is fixed to the county’s satisfaction.
Doyle proposed a new right-of-way occupancy application that indemnifies the county from any actions somebody else takes in county rights of way. Occupancy permits are not something the county can necessarily deny, Doyle said, but they can be crafted so that contractors are held to a higher standard. Doing so, he said, could help prevent damage to county rights of way, and subsequently, the cost to the county to fix any errors that are left behind toward utility installation. Doyle said things have “gone crazy” as far as how many utilities are being placed in rights of way.
Doyle also pitched requiring a $5,000 cash or surety bond to be posted with the county with the application for faithful performance of all the requirements of the permit. The county would hold the bond for two years.
“I would like you to look at this,” he said. “I would love for you to authorize it but I understand you need time to study it.”
Some on the commission seemed unsure of the $5,000 figure, specifically if it were applied per permit. Some companies apply for dozens of rights of way occupancies a year.
“I know $5,000 sounds like a lot to put down as a deposit, but is it if I have to go back and fix what they messed up?” Doyle asked. That should not be (paid) by the taxpayers, I don’t think.”
Commissioner Mark Hartman said it doesn’t make sense to hold the money for two years, but said he wasn’t opposed to a bond. The commission decided to have legal counsel study the proposal and address it again at a future meeting.
In other news from the meeting, the commission once again heard from Joe Bawdon, a resident of Star Valley Subdivision (on the property that was formerly STAR Academy) who again questioned when three homes that are parked on a street in the subdivision would be moved.
There are varying reports as to how long the homes have been sitting on part of what is now Galaxy Trail, which is the southern entrance into the property. Some say the homes have been there for over a year, while others say it hasn’t been that long. What isn’t disputed, however, is that the homes are blocking a public right of way and need to be moved.
The homes, which served as residences of people working at STAR Academy for years, were purchased at auction by Tom McDill. The houses were lifted off purchased lots at the subdivision, and were supposed to be parked where they are only temporarily.
However, McDill has  yet to have the homes moved, and they continue to sit in the public right of way on blocks and beams. The property was replatted to add a lot and make Galaxy Trail a public right of way. The homes are not only blocking the right of way, but preventing one of the landowners from building an approach to their lot.
The commission gave McDill a deadline to move the homes, which was pushed back due to the recent heavy snow. Another woman in the crowd who lives in Star Valley said the homes are also preventing the former STAR administration building from being imploded due to their proximity to the building.
Commissioner Craig Hindle said McDill had been charged with three Class 2 misdemeanors for a public nuisance, and he could continue to rack up charges as the homes continue to sit in the right of way. It was stated McDill is in Texas and is aware of the charges.
It is unclear what the next step for the county would be should the homes continue to sit where they are.