Afton orders gate decision after discussion

AFTON - During a monthly Afton City Council meeting last Tuesday, a discussion revolving around the removal of a gate produced a mutual compromise between the city and the family who owned the gate.

The gate was built by Angie and Bill Wimber toward the entrance to their property on East Iowa Street. However, the placement of the gate is on the road itself. This was a conflict for the city. The original call for the gate to be taken down was after a civilian had got stuck on the road and accidentally hit the gate.

During winter weather, the gate proved difficult for clearing what should be a city road. The Wimbers claimed there had been no snow removal for their portion of the street in five years. Additionally, the gravel from the road had not been replaced despite the Wimbers’s contact with city maintenance, deteriorating the quality of the road. Bill described the road as “muddy.”

“The water runs right down that driveway into the corrall,” he said.

Due to the road’s location and the difficulties involved with clearing, the road became a low priority during maintenance processes. City maintenance head Jesse Shade described the difficulties the gate presented during the snow removal process.

“That’s the reason you’re always on the tailend of being plowed,” Shade said. “I have to take a special piece of equipment over there that I always use last.”

The gate also serves as a solution for another problem: keeping uninvited visitors away. If a car were to drive past the open gate into the Wimbers’ property, there would be little space for the car to turn around and leave, stranding a confused or lost driver. The gate had previously solved this conundrum. The entrance for the east side of Iowa Street marks the road as a dead end.

Two solutions were discussed during the city council meeting. The first was presented by Bill Wimber, asking the city to simply vacate the road to the Wimbers, allowing the Wimbers to perform maintenance on the road themselves and letting the gate remain as is. this would prove to be an issue, as the road also holds water and utility pipelines, which are owned by the city of Afton.

In addition, if the road was vacated, it would have to be vacated permanently. This would mean that if the city wanted to access these utilities, for maintenance or other reasons, they wouldn’t be able to without access to the road. If the Wimbers were to sell the property, the section of the road would still belong to whoever the new owners were, not the city. Alleyways in the city were previously unable to be vacated under the same reasons.

“We’re just following our policy and code,” said councilmember Kristie Nixon.

“I just don’t agree with that,” Angie Wimber said.

The other solution was to simply take down the gate, but that proved to be a problem for the Wimbers. The posts the gate is built on connect to a larger fence around the Wimbers’s property, which is used to keep livestock and their pet dogs safe. The immediate removal of the gate would cause problems for the safety of these animals.

The two parties eventually settled during the meeting on what would become a compromise. The gate would inevitably have to be taken down, with the city giving the Wimber family an extended deadline of Aug. 1 for the demolition to help facilitate construction of a new fence to help keep their animals and pets in.

The compromise allows for the city to maintain the road where the gate was originally placed, and it gives the Wimber family time to approach alternate ways to solve their original problem. Shade promised to maintain the road to the garage of the Wimber property.

The city of Afton also extended help for the Wimbers by recommending communication with the city or Shade and the Wimbers for any additional problems that they might face.

An open line of communication helps inform citizens of reasonings that inform city decisions. While the removal of the gate was maintained, the communication the Wimbers had with the city helped inform both parties of what was needed.