Letters to the Editor

Access Road Issues

February 11, 2007

Editor:

I'm just writing to tell you how much I enjoyed "Build and maintain your own trails, roads and driveways" by Neil Shelton. My wife and I currently reside in a home on 5 acres, about a mile north of I-44 halfway between Strafford and Marshfield, Mo. We moved here from Bull Shoals, Arkansas back in September, 2006. Our property is about 2/10s of a mile down a private road. Being a private road, it is NOT maintained by the county. As you may know, until just recently, southwest Missouri had been suffering from a prolonged drought. When we bought the place back in September, the weather conditions had been very dry and our private road, although rather rough and dusty, was still quite easy to travel in our Honda Accord (we also have a 4WD Jeep Cherokee). Then we started having rain, snow and then a horrible ice storm and we learned just how private it can get on a private road!

The entire length of this private road is maybe one mile or less and ours is the first house. There are eight other houses past ours. I have been talking to some of the neighbors about pooling funds to improve our road and your information will be very helpful. I have also contacted the county road supervisor and asked for his advice and he has agreed to visit the property and give us his thoughts. At first, I thought it would be prohibitively expensive to do anything. After reading your article I am very encouraged that it will not be nearly as costly as I had imagined. I'm assuming the cost of rock in this area should be similar to the cost in yours. As I wrote earlier, I only have 2/10s of a mile of this private road to drive before I reach good county pavement. A good portion of this 2/10s is rather steep and also has a low area at the bottom of a hill with a metal tube under the road. I am attaching a picture I recently took to give you a good idea of our problem.

Anyway, I just had to write and tell you how much your article has improved my outlook. Perhaps we can get a good road without ending up in the poor-house. Thanks again

Jim

Jim: Your road looks pretty good to us, but we're well aware of how much better the typical country road looks in a photograph than when you're actually driving on it.

Looks like you have a stream of water washing down one side. If you're able, this can be fixed with a road grader lowering that side a little to allow the water to run into the ditch. If you can do this before you put down rock, so much the better, but if not, the rock will build up the road a bit and tend to contain this stream (a little).

If you don't grade that side of the road before putting down the rock, It's a good idea to try to have the rock applied directly over the tracks as they currently exist.

Again, this looks like a pretty good road. We'd suggest you approach the county road board and see if they'll accept the road for maintenance. This is more likely, I suspect if you're in Webster County rather than Greene. It's also not so much like asking for a hand-out as you might suppose. The state reimburses the county for each mile of road that they (the county) has to maintain and many road boards are quite open to adding new roads to the ones that they already maintain, especially if the roads don't need a lot of work first or if you're willing to bring it up to their standards.

So talk to them before you do the work, see if they encourage or discourage you and tell them you're about to apply rock so you can see if they have any other suggestions as to what else you might do that might coax them into accepting your road for county maintenance.

Getting an Address

February 11, 2007

I read “Wilderness Homesteading and the Patriot Act”, but since they don't have an address, and I can't find their email address, I hope you can forward this modest advice to R.B Salter.

When dealing with the government, sometimes, it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. When the government doesn't have all the 'i's dotted and 't's crossed, sometimes you have to cross them yourself and see what happens.

In most states, the fire departments and other services have lobbied to create standardized addresses based upon roads and positions on those roads. Find the nearest neighbor, get their address, add some digits to it, and make up your new address yourself, based upon the closest guess you can devise, and the closest road. Provide this to everyone you deal with, and eventually, it becomes an official address. It's where you live. It doesn't have to come from someone else.

The point of the law is so that they can find you, and so that you don't use someone ELSE's address. Just because the number doesn't exist in their computer, doesn't mean you don't live there. We all hate bureaucracy, but when it is inadequate, we need to fill in the blanks. Make the civil SERVANTS understand that they have a job that requires them to serve ethically, not to blindly follow plans. Contrary to their belief, an address is something you tell them, not something they provide to you. What they put in their book is something they discover, not invent. You already own it, they just have to figure out how to fit it in their system.

I hope this helps.

Dan

Belgium,WI

More Mail About Getting Your Mail

February 13, 2007

I read about your predicament in getting a PO box.

The thing is, this sort of thing is regularly dealt with by people who live aboard boats. There are quite a few options, it turns out. Do you have any friends who would put your last name on their mailbox? If so, you are all set. Google for "liveaboard" to find more hints on how to lead a nomadic/wilderness-based existence.

-Dmitry