Uintah mapping allegations denied

VERNAL — Uintah County commissioners adamantly deny that the county's B road maps have been intentionally mislabeled in an effort to collect more money from the Utah Department of Transportation.

While acknowledging that mapping mistakes were made in the past, commissioners contend the broader scope of allegations against the county are artificial and stirred by "former disgruntled employees" who have two separate lawsuits against the county.

"We are not afraid of anything here," said Commissioner Mike McKee. "We think there's been quite an injustice because of that lawsuit . . . We have quietly sat by, but this has gone beyond ridiculous. We need to try to correct some mis- information."

The county's recently completed 2005 B road map, its first to be submitted to UDOT since 2002, has corrected some obvious errors by changing roads that were incorrectly listed as paved back to gravel. A road inside the Ashley National Forest, which the county claimed, is also gone from the new map. Roads that were listed as paved when in fact they were only half-completed were also stricken from the 2005 map.

With the corrections, the county shows an increase of 22 paved miles and 96 graveled miles from 2002 to 2005.

UDOT helps counties and cities maintain their B roads through a public money distribution formula. A "B" road is a public road with specific improvements to drainage, elevation and road base. How much money each entity receives per mile depends on population and weighted road miles.

Uintah County receives $2,900 in maintenance funds for a paved road, $1,560 for a graveled road, $587 for a dirt road and nothing for two-track (Jeep trails) and D roads.

County officials note that road maps are "living documents" that constantly change as improvements are made or when road conditions deteriorate. But those at odds with the county over mapping maintain something more sinister is going on: the intentional manipulation of road mileage for financial gain.

"I just resent the implication that we are trying to defraud anyone. There may be inaccuracies here and there on any map, but it's not from the aspect of any fraud," said McKee, who has been in office since 2003.