They are called study sessions and study they did Tuesday following the regular Barton County Commission meeting agenda. The topic concerned road improvements in the South Homestead Township near Cheyenne Bottoms, specifically a stretch of NE 20 Avenue that crosses land owned by the Nature Conservancy.

The session began with County Engineer Barry McManamon’s power point presentation that identified five different locations on the road that have become almost impassable. Those in attendance included Robert Penner with the Nature Conservancy, South Homestead officials, County Works Director Darren Williams and Barry McManaman. For just over an hour Commissioners heard about the condition of the roads and who was ultimately responsible for the deteriorating condition of the roadway and what could be done about it and who would foot the bill. After all the discussion, Commissioner Alicia Straub was asking the same question over and over again.

Alicia Straub Audio

Penner told the board that the Nature Conservancy had grant money available up to $13,500 to help repair the road but that would be just a small portion of what the cost of the repairs would be. In Barton County, Townships are responsible for maintaining roads and levy taxes to that. Commissioner Jennifer Schartz says since most of the traffic on NE 20 Avenue is accessing Cheyenne Bottoms, it shouldn’t be out of the question for the County to consider chipping in some funds for the repair.

Jennifer Schartz Audio

After all of the discussion, Commissioners instructed Barry McManamon and Darren Williams to put together cost estimates on what the repairs would actually be and bring them back to the board. Schartz suggested at that point a task force made up of several interested parties could be formed to study the issue and come up with a plan that would address long term solutions.