County puts Timberon roads on hold

ALAMOGORDO — Otero County Commissioners debated for quite some time on whether to take over the maintenance of Pawnee Drive from Saulk Road to Pawhuska Drive and all of White Marsh Valley Drive in Timberon to better benefit the residents of Timberon at their July 13 meeting.

In return, the Timberon Water and Sanitation District would assume maintenance on Saulk Road and Pleasant Valley Road, which are also in bad shape.

Ultimately, the topic fell to the wayside due to a county policy that states that roads not maintained by the county must be maintained by the residents for at least two years to be brought up to county standards so that it may be considered being maintained by the county.

More:County considers taking over roads in Timberon

However, the topic will be brought up again in August.

Commissioner Lori Bies who represents District 3 that includes Timberon, has been determined to make the road swap happen especially after the wildfire in 2016 destroyed numerous homes and structures in the small mountain community.

“Even though it’s July the cooler climate is fast approaching us and my concern is that if we don’t get on this that we’re going to have another winter of trying to get up some roads for Emergency Services that are absolutely not capable of handling that kind of road and Steve Quappe (County Roads Superintendent) can’t get started on maintenance on the traded roads until we’ve approved it,” Bies said. “So we’re looking at not starting until late August when we’re in tourist season.”

It was previously reported that the Otero County Road Department deemed Saulk Road inaccessible most of the time and other county maintained roads are in need of repairs.

During the June 8 county commission meeting Quappe said it would benefit the residents of Timberon if the county takes over a section of Pawnee Drive which is a road that Timberon residents use quite frequently.

Pawnee Drive is currently not maintained by the county but sections where it connects to Saulk Road and Wishita Drive are.

Commission Chairman Janet White brought up the policy but Bies questioned it’s ruling due to the fact that the county roads in Timberon are not up to standard.

“We neglected our job and we put the people in this situation,” Bies said. “The policy states to maintain county roads but that hasn’t been done, so now where are we? I’m willing to do anything to rectify it. We created this and we refuse to fix it because of a policy.”

The fate of Timberon roads are uncertain at this point but Bies said she will continue to push the subject and support her constituents.