One subject that constantly is on the agenda at Butler

County Commission meetings is public roads. The topic always uses up a considerable amount of time at the meetings and rarely, if ever, does anything get decided or even accomplished. At recent meetings, two roads have been the subject of discussion.

The first road, one that was brought to the attention of

the commission by Commissioner Gary Hanks, doesn't even have a name. In fact, if a person should look for this road and didn't know the landmarks to look for, it would never be found.

The road is commonly referred to as Wilson Road' because only one resident lives on it. The road is not paved nor is it regularly maintained.

The argument concerning this road is that it is a public road, owned by the county, and therefore should be maintained by the county. The road itself looks more like a driveway, with bushes and trees covering each side of the drive.

While investigating Wilson Road', the resident's daughter came out to find out who was on the property. The lady said that the road had not been worked in years, probably at least seven, and the last time it was worked was right before the bridge went out. At one time, there was a gate built to keep the public out because of the unusable bridge, but even the gate

has collapsed.

But, what if the county did start to maintain the road? Would residents of the house come outside everytime the public parked on the road', and then ventured down to the abandoned bridge? Isn't the argument that it is public?

The other road that has been discussed at the commission meetings for the last few months has been Huguley Bridge Road.

The dispute over Huguley Bridge Road has two sides. One side of the argument was brought to the commission by William Phillips, county commissioner. He is arguing that although the bridge is out and no one lives on the road, the county should still maintain it to provide a place for the public to access the creek. Let it be known, however, there is a county maintained road on the opposite side where the public can reach the creek for fishing or for swimming.

Huguley Bridge Road no longer has a roadbed. The road that is present is maintained by a hunting camp that is adjacent to the old road. The hunting camp members argue that to get to the creek, the public would have to trespass onto their property and their fear is that some of their property may be damaged,

like it has been in the past.

For both of these roads to be maintained by the county, a serious amount of money must be spent. The roadbed to Huguley Bridge Road has been taken over by bushes, brush and trees, and the construction of a new road would cost the county and the taxpayers money

money on roads that the public does not use frequently, and money that could be better spent on other projects.

The arguments over the county roads must end. There are more important issues that need to be discussed in these meetings such as the future of the new Butler County jail, the future of Butler County schools and economic development throughout the county

these are the issues that make a difference in the long run and the issues that will help the county bring in

industries.

Commissioners, stop wasting time and let it go. Butler

County will never have money to build a jail or to fix roads that are used if time isn't used wisely. Put your energies into something that will make a difference

economic development and children

that is where the future of Butler County lies.