Recovering Costs of Damage to County Roads Caused by Development
Many Texas counties are experiencing development in rural areas. These developments include drilling activities and wind farm installations, which have the potential to severely damage county roads. It may take only a few days for the repeated heavy loads associated with these developments to basically destroy the driving surface and other components of a typical county road.
County road improvements are paid for by county taxpayers. In many cases those severe road damages caused by repeated heavy loads associated with a specific development far exceed what might be interpreted as routine “wear and tear.”
The San Patricio County Experience
San Patricio County has implemented a program to help recoup these excessive damages. The county relied on Texas Water Code Chapter 16.3145, which delegates the responsibility of local governmental units to adopt regulations designed to minimize flood losses, as the authority to issue the San Patricio County Flood Damage Prevention Order, which became effective in March 1985. That order allows their floodplain administrator to “review, approve, or deny all applications for development permits required by adoption of this order.”
Permit Requirement
The county requires any business entity, individual, or group doing any drilling, production or development activities to obtain a permit from the Flood Plain Management Office. The administration of this program is through the San Patricio County Flood Plain Authority (see related Q&A, question #1). In addition, heavy equipment users including operators in the business of drilling gas or oil wells who use county roads for the purpose of performing their activities are required to post a cash or surety bond to cover the costs of any damage to the roads caused by the development activity. If the entity has not secured the necessary road bond, the Flood Plain Management Office will deny the development permit until the bond is secured. Once obtained, the permit must be posted at the work site, and any development without the permit can be shut down by county law enforcement officers. This system has been in place for a few years, has not been challenged in court, and has proven to be an effective means of recovering the cost of road damage caused by development.
Road Bond
The San Patricio County Commissioners Court adopted an Order effective Feb. 26, 2007, requiring a cash or surety bond be provided in the amount of $25,000, or a blanket bond of $50,000. The blanket bond is to cover an entire precinct in those cases where work is being done in various areas of a precinct.
The purpose of the bond is to “cover any and all damage to the roads or other rights of way, including damage to sidewalks, curbs, medians, street signs and street lights. Ordinary wear and tear are excluded from this policy.” If no road damage is reported, the bond will be refunded to the operator. But if road damage is reported, “the damage will be repaired by the county and the actual cost of the repair work deducted from the bond held.” H – By William Zagorski, Mattie Atkinson, Don Bonifay, P.E., Carroll Johnson, P.E., and Howard McCann, P.E.
William Zagorski serves as emergency management coordinator and flood plain administrator for San Patricio County. Mattie Atkinson serves as flood plain manager for San Patricio County. Don Bonifay, P. E., and Carroll Johnson, P. E., are TEEX adjunct instructors, and Howard McCann, P. E., is the TEEX transportation training director. (Reprinted with permission from TEEX Lone Star Roads, Issue 1-10)