Bollinger County residents chat about roads on Facebook

Bollinger County residents are not only demanding better road maintenance and repair, they are tracking the roads on Facebook.

Better County Roads went online May 28, and so far it has 170 likes.

Danielle Guard, who set up the Facebook page, is a frequent visitor to the Bollinger County Commission. Mostly, she reminds them that she has been waiting for two years for the county to replace the chat (road covering made of rock fragments) that she paid for. One of the county's motor grader operators graded the chat off the road near her home and into a ditch.

County commissioners said they would replace the chat, but for the past two years have said the money hasn't been in the budget. Recently, the board told Guard she would have her chat in July.

A recent Facebook post showed the road Commissioner Steve Jordan lives on just recently got a load of chat, which prompted Guard and others who post on the Better County Roads page to question how the county determines which roads take priority.

"Everybody in this office has chat," Guard said, meaning Jordan, Commissioner James Null and Bollinger County Clerk Diane Holzum. "I am the only one who doesn't and I paid for it. ... I'm here to get what I paid for."

Jordan said the county gives priority to roads that have high populations and lots of traffic. The county doesn't use a traffic counter, he said in response to Guard's question, but goes by information from the road grader drivers, who tell the commission how many vehicles travel on which roads.