Grant County to spend money on Fairway Drive
Commissioners to provide $50,000 if changes happen
EPHRATA - The Grant County commissioners agreed to help the residents of Fairway Drive pay for changes to their road on Monday.
A subcontractor on the project estimated the residents would need to raise about $200,000 to make the changes during a meeting last Thursday.
The changes came after residents decided they wanted to get rid of the ditch planned for part of their road. The changes are related to a 340-home Sun Terrace project near Road F and Frontage Road in Moses Lake.
The current plan would place a six-foot-wide ditch on either side of 34-foot-wide road between Westshore Drive and Road F.5. In front of the development the road narrows on one side and the ditch would be replaced with a curbs and gutters. The golf course side of the road would still have the ditch. Toward the end of the road, both sides of the road would have curbs and gutters.
Derek Pohle, Grant County's director of public works, said the road is being rebuilt because when the developers place the utilities in for the new development, it will destroy the pavement. The development also will bring in more traffic, so the road needs to be wider and have a better surface.
The developers have engineered plans for a 28-foot-wide road with curbs and gutters on each side, said Jeff Foster, a Moses Lake real estate broker. The residents haven't asked to use the engineered plans for the road yet.
"If we have to go back and re-engineer, like you pointed out, time and money would probably throw this thing out of whack," he said. "It doesn't do us any good to formally ask for (plans for the road with curbs and gutters) on bended knee to the developer until we got a reason to get them."
The county committed to spending $50,000 on the project if it takes place.
"I would say whatever we come up with at that point in time we take it to (the developer) and present it to them and if they're not willing … then nobody spends any money," said Mick Hansen, a Fairway Drive resident. "You tell them to go out there and start digging and tearing up stuff and we'll bill them for tearing up stuff they got into."
Commissioner LeRoy Allison said in a perfect world the developer would pay the cost for improving a road affected by a new development.
"I see this as a real improvement over time, whether it's a ditch, whether it's a curb," he said. "In terms of the main road infrastructure, we never had one this big of a county impact … I think it's appropriate for the county be a partner for $50,000 in this process"
Commissioner Richard Stevens said there were other places that are going to have a gravel road and they would like a paved road, but the county did have some responsibility because the county never mentioned the ditch when the project was discussed originally.
"They come to us (and say,) 'Well you gave those guys $50,000,'" he said. "It opens up a hornet's nest for us down the road. I got a hornet's nest here right now."