WAGONER, Okla. — A partially collapsed culvert and dangerous hole under South 260 Road in rural Wagoner County has gone untouched by authorities over the summer because of a hole in jurisdictional control, 2 News learned.
"This collapse happened about a month ago, and after talking to neighbors…one of the neighbors actually said it's a city road," Bryan Burrows told 2 News after submitting a tip through the Problem Solvers email. "I said that can't be right. I've been out here for 20 years and the county has always maintained this road. There's craters (out here). I drove on better roads in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and that's not an exaggeration. Three commissioners have been here since I've been here."
The longtime resident is correct, according to the office of Wagoner County District 2, which said even its officials were stumped by a jurisdictional confusion known as a 'Fenceline' with City of Wagoner.
The office showed to 2 News an email it got from Oklahoma Department of Transportation confirming South 260 Road is "to be maintained by the city due to the fact that the city limit is encompassing the roadway."
Mayor Dalton Self of Wagoner confirmed it's a strange deal. He told 2 News the road was annexed in 1970, but is still not legally in its maintenance jurisdiction. Therefore, the city attorney told him the city cannot legally use funds on its needed work.
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Mayor Self does, however, expect the city council to approve a transfer of the road back to county control in its next meeting on Monday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m..
"The road's been deteriorating the last couple years, actually," Burrows added.
With both sides saying they can't legally spend money on 260 Road just yet, Burrows said he isn't happy with the slowness causing a literal breakdown of safety.
"We the people lose," he said. "We pay taxes here and we get poor service."
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