Frances Montes lives in Rio.
She told me at our "Let's Hear It" event Monday in Jensen Beach about her latest personal road construction project.
“He put in 10 bags of cement, I put in eight bags of cement.”
That’s for a giant pothole next to her driveway, which has grown substantially in recent years.
At the end of her block are a handful of other potholes, and a familiar-looking sign. It's shaped like a stop sign, but it's white without any lettering.
Montes has lived on her street for 15 years and wondered why none of her neighboring streets had the same issues.
I brought her concerns to Martin County, and discovered that her block, Haven Lane, is a private road that was never turned over to the county, as all the adjoining streets were.
“There’s about 55 miles of roads of that type in Martin County," said Public Works Director Jim Gorton.
He says if Montes can get a majority of homeowners on her street to agree to a repaving, they can submit a petition to the county which will assess the situation.
“Then the roadway would be accepted by the county, some improvements would be made and those residents who front that roadway would pay for it over time on their tax bills," said Gorton.
As for that stop sign, the county says the residents of the street are going to have to buy it for themselves. Montes says she’ll poll her neighbors and get a feel for where they are.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, you can reach out to the county online by clicking the ”need help” button, followed by “request for service” and fill out the form.
