Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Jefferson County officials will hold a workshop this week to explore the problem of the dirt roads at the Aucilla Shores subdivision.
The workshop will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, in the courtroom of the main courthouse in order to accommodate the large crowd that is expected to attend.
The aim of the workshop, as briefly discussed by commissioners at a recent meeting, is to present the affected residents with various options for the possible resolution of their road problems.
The commissioners are hoping for a broad-based representation of the subdivision’s property owners in order to be able to reach majority consensus on a solution.
At issue is the poor condition of the development’s miles of dirt roads and the residents’ inability to maintain the roads themselves, other than by volunteers. Some residents want the county either to pave or maintain the roads, but others want the roads to remain as they are, especially if it will require that they pay more in taxes or fees for the county to pave or maintain the roads.
So far, the residents have been unable to reach consensus on the issue, and the homeowners association has either disbanded or been rendered ineffective by its inability to collect dues or enforce the rules, other than on a voluntary basis. This, at least, is the situation, according to the conflicting reports.
A large private development in the northeast part of the county that dates from the early 1980s, Aucilla Shores’ dirt roads have been a problem since the inception of the development and one that surfaces periodically before the commission.