ASHLAND — Ashland County commissioners on Thursday voted against vacating a small gravel off-shoot of Ohio 60 that serves four houses.
The decision came months after residents from Montgomery Township’s County Road 1610 sharply opposed the engineer’s request to dissolve county ownership.
Instead, County Road 1610 will be owned and maintained by the township, commissioners said. Before Thursday’s meeting, the proposition was to vacate the road and defer maintenance to the residents who use it.
Residents in June strongly opposed that, arguing their paid tax bills should result in services that all taxpayers expect.
Susan McClure, one of the residents who live off the road, pointed to the road’s bridge back in June. If the bridge ever gave out, how were the residents supposed to scrounge up the money to fix it, and regain access to their homes?
As for the bridge, commissioner Denny Bittle and Mexiner said the county would fund a permanent fix next summer.
The fix, Mexiner said, would technically transform the structure into a culvert. Under state law, culverts are not under the county’s purview.
“(At that point) it becomes the responsibility of the township,” Meixner said. “At that point in time, then, the county really has no responsibility — no maintenance responsibilities — towards any part of County Road 1610.”
Residents Glendon and Susan McClure were the only residents who live along the road present during Thursday’s meeting. They said they were happy with how the situation resolved.
“I was ready with pages of notes to read to them if they did vote to vacate it,” Susan McClure said, holding up papers.
Montgomery Township trustees were not present during the meeting and one wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Bittle said the Ashland County EMA office will work with residents to resolve erroneous mailing addresses of some of the residents along County Road 1610.