Post by Poor Richard on Jun 22, 2020 7:50:32 GMT -7
Just One Third of South Glastonbury Roads Receive Spring Maintenance
GLA Board Rejected Standish Excavation Road Proposal for $19,000.00
Work Done Anyway - Will Standish Be Paid?
In April of 2020, Standish Excavation was asked by the Glastonbury Landowner's Association (GLA) Road Committee to prepare a bid for spring grading of South Glastonbury roads. Competing bids were not solicited. Standish submitted a proposal for work on Arcturus Road, Leo Drive and Hercules Road that was discussed at the May 4, 2020 GLA Board meeting. No other South Glastonbury platted roads were included. Hercules only contained work for the first 1 1/2 miles of an almost 4-mile long road.
At the May 4, 2020 GLA Board Meeting, South Glastonbury Road Chair Ed Dobrowski presented the Standish proposal for approval. Director Tim Brockett and Director Claudette Dirkers asked why a large part of High South was not included. Director Dobrowski stated that Standish could not analyze that area in mid-April because of snow and wet conditions. Brockett, who lives in High South, replied that he had already completed a thorough analysis of the roads and submitted a written report to the GLA Board in late April. Discussion ensued and the Standish proposal was rejected by the GLA Board.
Lower Hercules Road is graded by Standish Excavation
Nonetheless, in early June Standish Excavation proceeded to grade, roll, ditch and apply mag chloride to some of the platted roads in South Glastonbury. Over the course of five days, the proposal that had been rejected by the GLA Board, was now completed. The majority, or 67% of the platted roads did not receive any maintenance. Virgo Way, Leo Lane, much of Leo Drive, Libra Drive, Polaris Way, Scorpio Way, Upper Hercules, Sagittarius Skyway and Sagittarius Place, were all neglected.
The total platted road mileage that the GLA is responsible for maintaining in South Glastonbury is 10.5 miles. Just 3.4 miles received maintenance; 7.1 miles of platted roads were completely neglected.
When payment for the unauthorized road work was discussed at the June 8, 2020 GLA Board meeting it was purported that Board approval was not required, as long as the money was originally in the 2020 budget. Since the GLA had already voted to approve the 2020 budget, the Road Committee assumed it could spend it as they wished without requesting further Board approval. In contrast, the 2020 North Glastonbury spring road bid had been officially presented and approved at the April 6th director’s meeting.
GLA Bylaw Article VIII D on Payment of Money reads: “All checks, drafts, or other orders of the payment of money … shall be authorized by resolutions of the Board of Directors.”
Tankers waiting to apply mag chloride to South Glastonbury roads
The quality of the work done on the 3.4 miles of South Glastonbury roads was good. The road was graded and rolled. Parts of Arcturus Road and Hercules Road were ditched and then mag chloride was applied. The road surface is now smooth, hard and less dusty than in previous years. Ditching was done, but the rubble was only swept aside, and is already falling back into the newly cleaned ditches. Culverts were not cleaned, and many are filling up with dirt and mud. Ditch and road debris now forms dams underneath guardrails on Hercules Road. The 12-inch tall “debris dams,” channels water back onto the road and prevents plowed snow from being pushed underneath the guardrails.
Debris from ditch work was not removed and is falling back into the roadside ditches.
2020 marks the second year in a row, that normal road maintenance has been denied on roads past the intersection of Polaris, and Scorpio Way and Hercules Road. 40% of South Glastonbury platted roads are past that intersection. They are widely used by residents, vacation renters and many Glastonbury landowners who access common land in High South. Hundreds of potholes dot Upper Hercules Road and some are three to four feet in diameter. Ditches are clogged and culverts are getting buried. Sagittarius Skyway is even more treacherous. That road has not been graded in over three years and contains 5-foot wide potholes, deep tire ruts and completely plugged ditches that funnel water over the dirt roadbed.
Left unchecked, small potholes grow to be deep, road-spanning craters.
Large potholes, clogged ditches and the effects of serious water damage are also present on Polaris and Scorpio Way, Virgo Way, Leo Lane and other poorly maintained or neglected South Glastonbury platted roads. North Glastonbury faces similar problems with platted roads that have often not seen any maintenance for a decade or longer.
In the GLA Covenants, 8.01 C. states that, "The Association intends to maintain a private road system within the platted road easements...". It has been argued that certain platted roads could be abandoned. The money saved could then be spent on paved county-owned roads such as Dry Creek in South Glastonbury.
In 2015, and again in 2017, the GLA sought legal advice from Seth Cunningham of the Brown Law Firm in Billings regarding the GLA 's responsibility for platted roads. In 2017 the GLA requested a legal opinion that could be shared with landowners. Download a copy of the 2017 legal opinion here.
"I do not think the GLA could decide to abandon a road completely without changing the Covenants or the plats. As long as a road is encompassed by the Covenants or the plats, some consideration has to be given to maintaining that road. All members have the right to use all the roads. Montana case law is clear that with the right to use an easement also comes the obligation to maintain it. The GLA has the ability to decide the level of maintenance, and it should be done as fairly and reasonably as possible."
GLA Attorney Seth Cunningham
GLA Attorney Seth Cunningham
For many years, Upper Hercules and the roads past Polaris and Scorpio Way received semiannual grading and fresh gravel. In 2018, maintenance ceased on Sagittarius Skyway. In 2019, regular maintenance was halted on Upper Hercules past Polaris and Scorpio Way. In 2020 regular road maintenance was once again denied to large sections of South Glastonbury.
