To the editor:
This letter is in regard to the chip seal issue at Solar Slopes. As one of the two developers of Solar Slopes subdivision, I take issue with counselor Shane McDougall’s comment that, “the road was not originally built correctly, and that the substructure of the roads should be the main issue.”
I can assure you that the road substructure was built exactly according to the city specifications and can only assume that Counselor McDougall’s comment meant that the city specifications were not sufficient, not that the developers did not build the road according to those specifications. The Public Works Director at the time visited the site almost daily to be sure the road specifications were being upheld. The same can be said for the installation of the water and sewer mains.
The Public Works Director and the Caribou Utilities District signed off and the city accepted these roads. Once the roads were accepted, the city provided the new chip seal with the intent to pave after more homes were built.
I would also mention to Mayor Aiken that the previous city councilors did not “drop the ball.” The reason the road was not paved from the start is every time a new house was built the road would have been trenched to install city sewer and water connections.
Lastly, if the city would have required us to install water and sewer lines into each lot, as well as provide a paved road, we would never have built this subdivision. The associated cost would have driven the price of these lots so high that the lots would never sell, so there would not be new homes paying up to $90,000/year in property taxes at that location, and possibly not even in Caribou.
Maybe this is a good time for the city councilors to look at the present rules for building a housing subdivision and amend as desired for future housing subdivisions.
