Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Judge's Corner

Well, let us see, we have not reported on the road department lately. We have set a record hauling gravel this year. We have hauled 90,000 yards of red clay gravel at a cost of $36,000. We spent $16,000 on SB2. This is a special type crushed rock that had a gray slate powder base in it that makes it set up somewhat like concrete. We used it on the county parking lot and on most of the culverts we installed this year. Anyway, this is a record never before attained in the county road department.

Also, we have installed 95 culverts and flat cars for bridges. We have also installed several large tanks with the ends cut out for large creek crossings. All this was done at a cost of around $80,000.

In the asphalt department, we have covered 15 miles of county roads with lay down or hot mix asphalt and one mile of chip and seal. This cost was approximately $600.

I am writing this at home, so I do not have the exact amounts with me. I do remember that Arkansas Game and Fish paid $62,000 on Ozan Point road. The Arkansas Highway Department paid around $150,000 in state aid on the Runyan Bridge Road. In county money, we have spent at least $450,000 on lay down asphalt and about $36,000 in cold mix and this was used mostly to patch potholes with. Many of our roads asphalted a few years back are wearing out.

So as we go along, we have to take into consideration that we cannot spend all our time and funds on asphalting roads. We have to take time to put new gravel on some roads. Then, on some roads we have to put a new layer of asphalt, because of potholes. We are still trying to get as many people out of the dust and off the rough roads as we possibly can.

We have slowed down a bit, because of the weather and our major projects are finished for this year. We are just going to do repairs on our roads until after the first of the year.

Many things have been completed for this year. The 1997 budget has been completed and approved by the Quorum Court. The plans for the courthouse have been completed and we plan to open bids around the 20th of December.

We have a sign making machine ready to install in our new building at the road department. It is 90 percent ready to go on line. We have to make nameplates for all the county roads. As you can see it has been a very busy year and I am ready to relax my brain for just a little while before we start over.

Having said all that, I will close for this time. Until next time, yours for a better county goverment.

>Grady Runyan, Clark County Judge