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The
road to success
is always under
construction.
~ Lily Tomlin
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The further forward we go,
the further back we have to explore in order to go
forward again. ~ Stephen Gardiner |
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There
are so many questions about the road that it seems a
good idea to devote a separate section to it. As
I get information, it will be posted here. I've
had a few conversations with folks at Clarke County
and VDOT that are posted below. Newest info is
at the top of the page. If you
have some road info that would be helpful to your
neighbors, please
email the information to me and I'll post
it.
Thanks!
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The $75,000.00
question... |
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VDOT Contacts:
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Garrett W. Moore
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VDOT Leadership
No email
addresses are provided. The VDOT protocol
appears to be
firstname.lastname followed by
@VDOT.Virginia.gov
so I'm assuming any folks listed on the
Leadership page can be emailed using this
method.
-.... |
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VA Transportation Board
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Gravel Road Resources:
Clarke Co. Resources:
PDF Files to download:
Virginia Resources:
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Sept. 24, 2007: According to this
Clarke County record (Plat Bk 6, P 60 - 62)
the Point subdivision was approved on June 24,
2005. I have been informed by a lot owner of
one of the properties at the point that it appears the $75,000
was a check (not a bond) that
Mr. Folds gave to VDOT to cover the cost of
improving the 606/Calmes Neck Lane apron. If
this is correct, has
this money been in the VDOT coffers for, at
minimum, more than two years?
Where exactly is the $75,000.00? If they
received a check, I'm
assuming VDOT has invested it and it seems logical to assume
the additional earned interest would be applied to the
cost of improving the 606/Calmes Neck Lane apron.
With the earned interest, what is the total amount of money
available to complete the work?
Was it a check? Was it a bond?
I agree that the two year delay in addressing this
problem has resulted in increased costs.
Given that fact, in the interest of maximizing the
use of the money they have for this project,
shouldn't VDOT move forward to do this work ASAP?
With the goal of getting an "action date" on the
record for improving the 606/Calmes Neck Lane
apron, I'll be asking these questions of my
elected officials and VDOT.
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On Sept. 20, 2007, I
spoke by phone with Bobby Boyce - VDOT
Land Development Manager (540-743-6585) about the
condition of the 606/Calmes Neck apron. He
was also very informative and helpful. His
explanation is as follows (I told him I would be
sharing his comments with our entire community. I typed our
conversation as we talked and have paraphrased his
comments)...
The permit to upgrade
the entrance to Calmes Neck Lane that was taken
out by John Fold expired more than a year ago.
VDOT has sent letters to Folds requesting him to
complete the work and have never gotten a
response. They also sent a return receipt letter
to Mr. Folds that was never picked up.
Permission to
subdivide the property at the point was
conditioned on the work at the entrance to
Calmes Neck Lane being done. This was required
by Clarke County who asked VDOT to look at it
before they granted Mr. Folds permission to
subdivide.
Also at issue is an
easement that Mr. Folds was supposed to obtain
from the owner of the property at the corner of
606 and Calmes Neck Lane. When Mr. Folds applied
for his permit, VDOT asked Mr. Fold's engineer
to secure that easement. It was another six
months before Mr. Fold's engineer came back in
with the permit application - which did NOT have
the needed easement. It appears the person at
VDOT at that time was unaware of this
requirement and granted the permit w/o the
easement being included.
Why is the easement
important? VDOT needs that land to be able
to lower 606, raise Calmes Neck Lane, grade the
road, and resolve possible line of sight issues.
VDOT could take
action to repair the road, but they feel the
bond Mr. Fold's posted is no longer enough $$ to
do the required work. They could bill him for
the difference, but what leverage do they have,
short of taking him to court. Can't put a lien
on his property at the Calmes Neck Point - it's
already been sold.
When I mentioned to
Mr. Boyce that he'd probably already heard from
a number of people about this, he told me I was
actually the firs person to contact him about
it. Mr. Boyce also opined that he thought
Clarke County should be pressing the issue with
Mr. Folds.
I asked Mr. Boyce
what can be done next to remedy this. He said he
will try and get VDOT engineers out within the
next couple of months to look at it. I
left my name and phone # with Mr. Boyce so that
he can contact me.
My opinion:
Before any final was
granted on Mr. Folds, subdivision, Clarke County
should have come out to make sure the work on the
entrance had been completed. If this is not County
procedure - perhaps it should be.
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On Sept. 19, 2007, I
spoke by phone with Scott Ambrose -
Berryville VDOT office (540-955-1513) about the
condition of the 606/Calmes Neck apron. He
was very informative and helpful. His
explanation is as follows (I told him I would be
sharing his comments with our entire community. I typed our
conversation as we talked and have paraphrased his
comments)...
VDOT's
responsibility is to maintain the road out to 15
feet from the center line of the road. He
said they went out a week or two ago to address
the problem and that they "patched it out" with
tar and stone - not gravel. They applied 4
layers of liquid asphalt and stone.
He said they
found the old apron under the stone and that, in
his opinion, the problem is that people are
driving too far to the right when they go onto
606 and are spinning in loose gravel and dirt in
an area that has been expanded over the years to
a location beyond the boundaries of the original
road due to grading of Calmes Neck Lane.
Mr. Ambrose
felt if we would do better if we could keep
drivers from using the far right section.
He suggested placing a post in the road.
He said that Calmes Neck Lane definitely needs
attention and is in need of repair.
I inquired
about the missing STOP sign and he told me it is
the responsibility of Calmes Neck to replace the
sign as it is not a state maintained road.
I followed up
with more calls to other people in VDOT concerning
the Folds bond and how that ties in with the
606/Calmes Neck apron. Certain folks were not
available so I left my name, number and reason for
calling. I will post what I learn as soon as
I hear back from VDOT. If I don't hear from
them today, I'll call daily until I get the
information. |
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On Sept. 19, 2007, I emailed the following
questions about the Calmes Neck Road to Chuck
Johnston, Clarke County Planning Administrator and
Jesse Russell, Clarke County Zoning Administrator.
I told him I would
be sharing his comments with our entire community. I received a very prompt reply from Jesse.
His answers to my questions (in black) are
below (in red).
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1) Do
the road improvements required for the 5
lot owners of the Folds subdivision at the
point of Calmes Neck involve the
606/Calmes Neck apron only?
#1 - yes. Folds has paid a cash bond to
VDOT for the work required. It must be
done before a 3rd building permit is
issued. If not, VDOT has the money and
will do it themselves.
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2) What
improvements must be done to the
606/Calmes Neck apron?
#2- As I remember, Calmes Neck Lane is to
be built up so as to reduce the grade,
extend the apron radius and pave back
approximately 18' from 606 edge of
pavement.
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3) Does
the new requirement that a parcel served
by an unpaved, private access easement
already serving 9 or more lots be improved
to VDOT standards affect the 5 lots owners
of the Folds subdivision at the point of
Calmes Neck? What are the requirements
regarding the entire road and/or apron for
any other single DUR vacant lots that are
part of the Calmes Neck subdivision that
have simply not been built on all these
years?
#3 - The new ordinance only applies to
newly created lots after the adoption of
the Ordinance date.
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4) If an
action is taken that would require the
Calmes Neck Road to be brought up to VDOT
standards, would that requirement affect
the entire road from 606 all the way down
to the point, or just from 606 to the
property that was triggering the needed
improvement (this assumes the property is
not at the point).
#4 - See # 3 - lots of record do not
require any additional improvements to the
road.
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5) Is
there any additional information we need
to be aware of regarding the 606/Calmes
Neck apron, Calmes Neck Road, or
development of properties served by the
Calmes Neck Road?
#5 - No. But if you have additional
questions please contact us.
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Please
email me and let me know any thoughts you may
have. |
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Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled
for a reason.
~ Jerry Seinfeld |
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