Hunt Farm roads finally getting final surface
Published 7:49 am Friday, May 4, 2018
Paving of the Hunt Farm subdivision, a Boyle County neighborhood that has gone without final surface on its roads for years, is expected to be complete within two weeks.
Boyle County and the Danville-Boyle County Planning and Zoning Commission “got a great bid price” of $58 per ton of asphalt, which means the paving will cost approximately $18,000, P&Z Director Steve Hunter said. Workers will also be installing a temporary “hammerhead” for turnarounds at a cost of $1,378, Hunter said.
“They’re ready to pave and get that turnaround done in the next 14 days,” he said.
Construction of three initial phases in the Hunt Farm subdivision began more than a decade ago. But the Great Recession that began in 2008 brought home building in Boyle County grinding to a halt, greatly impacting expected construction in the subdivision and the ability of the developer, Joedy Sharpe, to complete its roads and sidewalks, according to previous comments by Sharpe’s attorney, Stephen Dexter.
In 2011, the P&Z Commission cashed a letter of credit from Sharpe worth $52,668. Letters of credit are used by developers to bond their projects; they are supposed to ensure P&Z has enough funds to finish the roads and sidewalks in a development if the developer goes bankrupt or otherwise fails to complete them.
But those funds sat in a special holding account with P&Z for years. Hunter, who took over as P&Z director last year, previously said there were a couple problems leading to the delay: The letter of credit was never big enough to actually cover the costs of completing the subdivision; and Sharpe refused to complete the subdivision on his own, telling the P&Z Commission in a letter that it was no longer his responsibility because P&Z cashed the letter of credit.
During February and March, Sharpe, P&Z and the Boyle County Fiscal Court came to an agreement that will not require P&Z or the county to spend any of their own funds to complete the roads and sidewalks. P&Z will use what’s left of the letter of credit — about $51,000 — to pay for final surfacing and construction of sidewalks until the $51,000 is exhausted. Then Sharpe will cover whatever costs remain.
Once the roads are up-to-code, Boyle County can accept them into its county road system, allowing for things like maintenance and snow removal.
As approved, the development is supposed to have sidewalks on either side of its roads. Sharpe is attempting to get waivers from current residents who are willing to not have a sidewalk constructed in front of their home.
Sharpe has 60 days from completion of the resurfacing to provide a plan for completing sidewalks in a way that satisfies P&Z. Hunter said Wednesday he spoke with Dexter about the sidewalks recently, and Dexter told him they’re working on acquiring waivers to reduce the amount of sidewalk needed, but “they’re not being as successful as they thought.”