A rural Parker woman is asking the Linn County Commission to pave three miles of Devlin Road to link with Indianapolis Road in Miami County. (Journal file photo)
By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – Rural Parker resident Renee Slinkard gave the Linn County Commissioners a petition requesting that the county chip and seal Devlin Road for three miles from 2200 Road to the Miami County line.
Slinkard said that northwest Linn County is the “forgotten” area of Linn County. In a prepared statement she said, “Whatever residents need in their area, it is disregarded and forgotten.
“For years northwest Linn County residents to no avail have been asking for access to a major highway to avoid crossing two to three railroad tracks while waiting on trains to pass.”
She went on to say, “Time is of the essence when one can get to a county hospital or trauma center via a major highway.”
In the case of an ambulance having to take a person to an emergency room, Slinkard said riding in an ambulance on gravel roads is very uncomfortable especially over railroad track. She said that she had to ride in one when she had an accident.
Slinkard told the commissioners that Miami County has already paved Indianapolis Road – Devlin Road in Linn County – to within one mile north of the Linn County line.
Commissioner Jim Johnson, commissioner for that area, said that his understanding was that Linn County had not chip-and-sealed a road since it did 1700 Road. He said he had talked with Miami County Commissioner George Pretz. Pretz said Miami County would consider paving down to the county line if Linn County paved its three miles.
In a separate phone interview with Pretz he said that he would definitely work toward completing that road to the county line, especially if Linn County paved the three miles on Devlin. He said that Linn County paving those three miles would be a good incentive to get that completed. But, he also said that he is only one of five commissioners and that costs of paving materials have gone up.
“I would like to get a cost estimate,” Johnson said at Monday’s meeting
Slinkard also told the commissioners that she had information from two road and bridge department people in Miami County, Jeff McGuire and Eric Sandberg. She said that the spreadsheet with costs was from McGuire and he updated it, the cost per mile.
(Here is a link to a separate letter to the editor from McGuire clarifying his conversation with Slinkard.)
Slinkard gave conflicting statements on the length of the road to be paved, saying two or three miles.
Commissioner Jason Hightower pointed out that it was three miles to the county line.
Slinkard’s petition had 54 signatures, but only five of the signatures were from people living on Devlin Road. She said everyone in northwest Linn County wanted the road paved and told the commissioners that everyone she talked to when collecting signatures signed it, except for one person who did not like to sign petitions.
She pointed out that many members in the audience were people wanting the road paved. After she spoke, and left the podium, about half of the 30-plus members in the audience left.
According to county minutes, in 2019, Slinkard tried to get about 3.5 miles of Earnest Road paved and handed in a petition with 92 signatures. Few of the people on that petition lived on Earnest Road and several were not from Linn County. Slinkard does not live on either Devlin or Earnest roads but on 2200 Road between them.
At that time, most Earnest Road residents were against having the road paved. At a subsequent commission meeting, one of the residents on Earnest Road pointed out that the hills and narrow bridges on that road would likely make paving that road costly.
It was also pointed that, although Earnest Road was gravel, there was plenty of traffic on it and residents were concerned that it essentially would become a highway.
Slinkard said at that time that Miami County had agreed to pave Bethel Church Road which connects with Earnest Road in Linn County. However, in checking with the Miami County road department, they said that section of road was not scheduled to be paved because it did not have enough traffic to warrant paving.
In November 2023, Linn County Public Works Director Shaun West brought up a request by a citizen to pave three miles of Devlin Road near Parker. No action was taken.
During the June 10, 2024 commission meeting, county counselor Mark Hagen gave the commissioners a message that Slinkard had left with him about putting a chip-and-seal surface on Devlin Road. No action was taken.
On Monday, the commissioners agreed to look into the cost of putting a surface on that section of road.
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