Garland County lops 14 roads off inventory

HOT SPRINGS — Garland County court orders filed last month removed segments of more than 14 roads from the county’s road inventory.

The work is the result of the Garland County Department of Emergency Management’s ownership and surface project to delineate private roads from public rights of way in the unincorporated parts of the county.

Charles Molsbee of the department said the project is 95 percent complete and has identified about 1,500 miles of roads the county is responsible for maintaining. The project has examined records that date back as far as 40 years.

A court order from the county judge is required for a road to be accepted into the inventory. Garland County Judge Rick Davis has said years of poor record keeping have allowed many miles of roads to be accepted for maintenance without proper records.

In accordance with an ordinance the Garland County Quorum Court adopted in July 2015 at Davis’ urging, property owners and developers submitting applications for road names for listing in the county’s 911 emergency system have to sign an acknowledgment stipulating they are aware the county will not maintain the road if it does not meet the minimum design standards the Quorum Court adopted in 2013.

The mandate was retroactive to applications submitted after Jan. 1, 2014. Davis said the plan is to attach the acknowledgment to the property deed, alerting future owners that the county will not maintain their road.

County court orders filed last month vacated Groundsel Road near Hot Springs Village, which the order said will revert to a private road. Orders also vacated Sweet Clover Lane, which runs through the parking lot of a church in Jessieville, and Rich Hill Lane in Royal.