By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Resurfacing a paved rural Levy County road or paving a dusty lime rock road can move forward faster if someone is willing to supply the asphalt materials to the Levy County Road Department.
The practice isn’t something new. It has happened from time to time over the years, but in the past month or so, two such cases have come to the Levy County Commission.
In Tuesday’s board meeting, Commissioner Rock Meeks said it had come to his attention that Strawberry Fields RV Resort in Chiefland was offering to pay for the materials to pave 2000 feet of NW 110th St., the dusty lime rock road that runs past the resort. The multi-million dollar resort is under development.
Commissioners recently approved the resurfacing of nearly a half a mile of SE 174th Court in Morriston for property owner Art Nussel, Jr. The cost of the asphalt materials is $19,866. Nussel has been asked to pay the asphalt supplier directly rather than pay the county for the materials to avoid impacts to the county budget. The county will donate the use of its employees and equipment.
Road Department Administrative Manager Alice LaLonde said the resurfacing of Nussel’s road should begin in early December.
The request by Strawberry Fields will be heard at the next county commission meeting. Strawberry Fields would pay for the road paving materials used on the project. The county would donate the use of its employees and equipment. The cost of asphalt and tar for the project hasn’t been calculated
“When someone drives down the road it’s a white cloud,” Meeks said. He said if a north wind happens to be blowing toward the RV resort the cloud of white dust would settle over the RV resort.
County commissioners manage a road paving priority list. The road department typically paves two or three lime rock roads annually from the top of the list. The number of roads paved depends on the amount of money set aside for that purpose and the length of the roads being paved.
Nussell’s resurfacing project won’t have an impact on the road paving priority projects. His road is surfaced. He wants to add new asphalt to SE 174th Court, according to the county.
The Strawberry Fields project, because it is a road paving project, will have an impact on how quickly roads on the paving list are surfaced. “Our crew will be working on this street instead of roads slated to be paved. It will push the other projects back a little,” LaLonde said.
Linda Cooper, founder of Spotlight on Levy County Government, told commissioners she would like to see LaLonde return in two weeks with the employee costs and the length of time to complete both projects as well as the cost of materials.
Commissioners didn’t discuss the economic benefits of Strawberry Fields coming to Chiefland. The RV resort will attract hundreds of RV’ers who will patronize local businesses. The resort will become a taxpayer as well.
One benefit to the county is that unpaved roads like 110th can be paved at a much lower cost than would be the case if the county paid for the materials. The county says it is always strapped for funding to surface dusty lime rock roads.
Levy Board of County Commission Regular Meeting November 20, 2018
Posted November 20, 2018
