By Aila Boyd
During the July meeting of the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors, all five members voted to appropriate funds for the Orchards of Ashley Road Correction Project. Roads that will be addressed include Island Green Road, Graystone Drive, and Cresthaven Lane.
The appropriations total $66,126.49 for fiscal year 2020; $49,000 was appropriated based on capital improvement program savings from fiscal year 2019 and $17,126.49 came from the county’s undesignated fund balance.
The plans for Orchards of Ashley Planation were approved in 2005.
David Givens, the development services manager for the county, noted that the need to address the road wasn’t on the county’s radar until citizens complained about it.
An inch and a half topcoat still needs to be put down on all three roads. Roughly 45 lots, some of which have yet to be built on, are impacted by the three roads.
Givens noted that once a road, like the ones included in the Orchards of Ashley Road Correction Project, is complete, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will do an inspection on it in order to make sure that it is up to the department’s standards before it can take the road into the state system. Before roads are taken into the state system, developers are responsible for their upkeep. The process of having the road inspected by VDOT was not completed by the developer, which ultimately went bankrupt.
A letter of credit, which was essentially an assurance that the roads would be completed and taken into the system, was issued from The Bank of Fincastle dated November 10, 2005.
“No snow was being pushed. It’s a private road, so it’s not in the state system. Citizens frequently complained about not having the snow pushed,” Givens said.
Givens explained that after the Board of Supervisors directed the county to look into the matter, The Bank of Fincastle allowed the county to pull the letter of credit in order to get the project completed on its own. From there, the county issued a call for bids.
S.C. Rossi & Construction Inc. submitted the low bid for the project, which came in at $234,690.00. Both the county and VDOT vetted the bid.
Due to the fact that the bid came in higher than the letter of credit, the Board of Supervisors had to appropriate $66,126.46 to make up the difference.
Work on the roads will take place during late summer and early fall of this year.
