Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Jefferson County officials plan to hold a workshop with residents of Aucilla Shores to explore possible solutions to the subdivision’s road problems.
The commissioners’ idea, which they discussed briefly on Thursday evening, July 15, is to present the residents with the different options available and see if the group can reach consensus on a preferred solution.
The commissioners said that they wanted a broad-based representation of all the affected parties at the workshop, which will be held at the main courthouse to allow for a larger gathering.
The reason for the commissioners wanting a broad-based representation is their recognition that the neighborhood is seemingly fractured into factions that don’t necessarily agree as to the nature of the problem or the solution and don’t even trust one another.
“There is a lot of distrust out there,” one commissioner said. “We want them all to be in the same room and hearing the same message.”
Commissioners at one point talked of mailing certified letters to each Aucilla Shores resident to ensure that everyone knew about the coming workshop. They squelched this idea, however, when it was pointed out that such a mail-out would cost about $2,000. The commissioners instead decided to mail the notices by first-class mail.
The workshop is set for 6 p.m. Monday, July 26, with the discussion to be centered on what can be done to remedy the situation with the subdivision’s dirt roads.
At issue is disagreement between residents who are dissatisfied with the condition of the roads and want the county either to take over their maintenance, or pave some of the roads, if at a cost to the residents if necessary; and other residents who either prefer to keep to the roads as they are or don’t want to pay for their maintenance or upgrade.
At a recent meeting, Mike Robinson, an Aucilla Shores resident, called for the county to take over the maintenance of about five of the 15 or so miles of dirt roads or pave some of them if possible with funds from a Florida Department of Transportation road-improvement program.
“We have lost our covenants and restrictions and have no legal means to take care of the roadways anymore other than through donations,” Robinson said, adding that he and a few others had taken it upon themselves to maintain the roads at present. But it wasn’t a situation that could be sustained indefinitely, he said.
Compounding the problem, the subdivision’s homeowners association has either disbanded or is operating on a very limited way, collecting dues on a voluntary basis.
The way it way it was left at the earlier discussion, the commission assigned a committee to explore the options and present the finding to the board at a later day. Which presumably is the purpose of the coming workshop.
A large private development in the northeast part of the county dating from the early 1980s, the problem of the subdivision’s dirt roads has been an issue that has resurfaced periodically before the commission since about the 1990s.