County approves Brush Creek road agreement

During the November 17 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), the commissioners approved a road use agreement between Carbon County and Brush Creek Ranch for a section of Carbon County Road 504.

The approval of the document comes a week after the commissioners balked at a request from the luxury ranch to place a gate on the south end of the county road.

Carbon County Road 504 is just one of many roads that, while accessible during the summer, is not maintained throughout the winter due to significant snowfall. Indeed, according to the Carbon County Road and Bridge Snow Removal Plan, approved by the BOCCC earlier this year, the road does not see any winter maintenance from Milepost 11.2 to Milepost 15.3.

Starting just outside Saratoga and passing by the Old Baldy Club, the county road is used by a number of local ranch families. The road eventually lets out at a corner on Wyoming Highway 130, shortly before Ten Mile Inn on the Snowy Range. It is this end of the road which Brush Creek Ranch was requesting a road use maintenance agreement to allow employees to access housing during the winter.

At the November 10 meeting of the BOCCC, Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis provided an update on the document to the commissioners.

“We have one more step that needs to occur but one of the questions that kind of came up with Brush Creek is whether it would be possible to use a gate in front of that location so only Brush Creek employees can access that housing. That would prevent some of the concerns that they had and I don’t know how the board feels about that,” said Mayfield-Davis. “That was a suggestion of their attorney because there are some concerns for the county keeping it open, this piece that’s normally closed.”

Mayfield-Davis added that she informed Brush Creek that she believed having a locked gate was “a bad idea”, especially in regards to emergency responders who may need to access the road in the event of an emergency.

“I have concerns about locking the public out on a public road, essentially turning into a private drive for Brush Creek or whoever. I’m against it on the face,” said BOCCC Chairman John Johnson. “I’d have to know more details but, right now, I don’t think it’s a great idea.”

Commissioner John Espy added that he was not comfortable with the precedent such an action would set, stating that it would advertise that anyone with deep enough pockets could close a county road at a whim.

“It’s a public road, it’s not a private drive,” added Johnson.

On November 17, Mayfield-Davis returned to the commissioners with a finalized version of the road use agreement, sans gate request. The county attorney informed the BOCCC that the agreement would be in effect from October 1 to April 1 of each year. Additionally, Brush Creek Ranch would need to request a snow removal permit from Carbon County Road and Bridge on an annual basis.

Commissioner Byron Barkhurst asked if the agreement was something that would need to be revisited on an annual basis or if it was perpetual. Mayfield-Davis informed Barkhurst and the other commissioners that the agreement would remain in effect unless another entity requested a road use agreement.

“Let’s say somebody else—such as the U.S. Forest Service—comes to us and says they want a road use agreement so this road remains open during the season. In that situation, this agreement would go away,” Mayfield-Davis said.

Prior to voting on the agreement, Johnson asked if Barkhurst had any issues with the document.

“I feel like there’s enough teeth in it that, if we need to do something different, we can make that shift,” said Barkhurst.

The agreement was approved unanimously by the BOCCC.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on December 1 at the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins.