| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
CJE Ann Melton, former Judge Walker at odds over road projects She wanted State Money to go for Cooper Ridge and Toria Roads project. Former Judge Walker, State Commissioner of Highways Don Paisley and the District Chief Engineer chose Country Club development streets and two rural roads Judge agrees was a priority plus one rural road, which she says was not needed or should have been a low priority. She questions why Adair County was one of three counties (which she knows of; there may be others) where county government did not have a say; why a political shot caller/contact person made the decision in the first place. By Ed Waggener Adair County Judge Executive Ann Melton and former Adair County Judge Executive and Governor Steve Beshear's political contact man Richard Lee Walker are at odds over the the use of State Discretionary Road Funds in the the current year. Judge Melton says that Adair County is one of three Kentucky Counties she knows about, where the funds were spent at the political contact man's discretion. The other two, she said, were Cumberland County and Pike County. Cumberland County is the home of the Governor's November political opponent, Senate President David L. Williams. The other two counties were Cumberland, the home of Republican gubernatorial candidate David L. Williams, and in Pike County. "There may be others, but these stood out," she said. Former Judge Walker says that the roads were selected by because they all needed the work and because in his belief, the roads chosen would do the most good for the most people. "I rode the county with State Highway Commissioner Don Paisley and Mr.(Neal) Shoemaker, (Chief Engineer, Kentucky Highway Department, District 8, Somerset, KY) and the roads we are doing are the ones we decided on would do the most good for the money."A total of $287,586.75 was/or is being spent on the following projects:
Not all the roads in the country club area were resurfaced. One left off was Pineview Loop. Walker said that there was less need there, and pointed out that his son, Dicky Walker, lives on that street. Judge Melton says the real issue is why the roads are being decided by political contact men in the first place. "Richard Lee is not judge. He doesn't sit in this office. He doesn't know the complaints and the needs like the county judge does. It's just politics." According to Judge Melton, and Walker, the former judge did asked her to sign off on the use of the Discretionary Funds this year. Both agreed she refused to do so. Judge Melton said that when Walker approached her three years ago and asked her to sign off on two projects he wanted, one on Winter Park Lane and another in the Glens Fork area, she agreed to do so. "They weren't such a big deal." 2010 was an election year. Judge Melton said that in that year, she wasn't consulted at all. "Richard Lee wanted to help Wid Harris out," she said. Harris was Judge Melton's general election opponent, and they wanted to use the road work to get more votes for Wid, so I wasn't consulted." Judge Melton said the Sulphur Springs Road was just to help out a resident who owns a long frontage along the Road. Walker says that the Cooper Ridge Project was favored by Judge Melton because Gordon Brown, the Judge's Administrative Assistant's father, lives on the road.Not so, Judge Melton says. She agrees that Mr. Brown is a resident. "But there are 26 other families there, too. The floods of 2010 severely damaged the road. "We got some help from FEMA, and when we did the emergency work, we were able to put culverts back in and to widen the road from 10 feet to 14 feet. "But the chip and seal has come up, and the road is full of pot holes. School busses have to travel the road, and mail, log trucks, milk truck and numerous residents live on the road. Sure, Mr. Brown lives on the road, the road serves a lot of other people too," she said, "And no matter what Richard Lee thinks about it, I think we ought to get get people out of the mud - including Mr. Brown - before we resurfaced for the country club folks." Judge Melton added, "Don't get me wrong. If the money were really there to do it, I'd be all for the country club roads - after we take care of all the people whose roads are so much worse." Former Judge Walker said that the reaction made him want to just quit trying to help. He said, "You work hard to bring good projects to the community and then people criticize you saying it ought to have been something else." This story was posted on 2011-08-03 19:55:46
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic News:
Patty Rowe Nall: Lots of great memories of Hotel Miller Card of Thanks from family of Pauline Rogers Card of Thanks from family of Glenna Mann (Ad) Use Updates or Corrections button with Classified Ad ATV owner has had a confrontation with group of ATV riders Through July 2011, KSP Post 15 area has had 21 traffic deaths Writer says there's statute with heavy penalties for trespassing with an ATV (Ad) Make sure your Yard Sale makes all the print lists Bear Wallow United Methodist homecoming is August 7, 2011 Birth, death dates for Sheley C. Bybee located View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
