Morrissey Road kicked to the curb

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Newcastle has essentially ended its involvement with maintenance and ownership of Morrissey Road after City Council members declined to accept $60,000 in funds from ONEOK Inc. for needed repairs on the road, according to City Clerk-Treasurer Greg James. 
During their Sept. 2 council meeting, council members voted to inform ONEOK and the Weston County commissioners that they were declining funds from ONEOK for needed repairs to Morrissey Road. The repairs were the direct result of damage on the road caused by the company. 
On May 20, City Attorney Jim Peck told the council that ONEOK had been unresponsive to attempts made by the city to discuss an agreement for repairs. This attempt by the city to collect funds to repair the road reignited a question over the ownership of the portion of Morrissey Road running through Cactus Court, a city housing development near the west end of town. 
At a June 18 of the commissioners, County Attorney Alex Berger informed the them that a discussion over the ownership of Morrissey Road was needed and that it was an “issue constantly on his desk.” 
The section at the heart of the discussion was the 2,300-paved road running through land that was annexed to the city, according to Commission Chairman Tony Barton. Commissioner Marty Ertman added, during the June 18 meeting, that the road was established in 1968. 
According to Berger, city ownership of that section of the road, if it exists, was not properly recorded. Public record, Berger said, shows the road belonging to the county but that minutes from county meetings say that the section was granted to the city. 
Berger also said that there were several potential outcomes if the road were to prove to be the county’s, including the city potentially wanting maintenance funds reimbursed by the county. 
Following further investigation into the road’s ownership and a city streets committee meeting, the City Council voted at its Sept. 2 meeting to not accept the money provided by ONEOK for repairs. 
“Speaking as an administrator, it isn’t proper to accept money on a road that we don’t own,” James told the News Letter Journal.  
“There was some concern discussed if we accepted the money there would be the expectation that the city would fix it. That is not our road,” James said. “We really have, for lack of better words, no business accepting money to fix something we don’t own.” 
According to James, the city has maintained the road for a number of years but that there is no “written agreement” that can be found saying the city would maintain it. He said that the area was annexed into the city in 1993. 
James said that there is a letter recorded that said if the city were going to maintain the road or area, it should be annexed into the city limits because at the time it was not. 
“Morrissey road in its entirety is a county road,” James said, noting that the city may be open to discussion with the county about ownership in the future but that no contact in that direction has been made. 
He also said, that as far as he is concerned, there is no advantage to the city going after the county for reimbursement of funds for maintenance of the road. 
“That has never been discussed …” James said. “I can’t imagine us considering that.”
Because there is no record of ownership by the city, the city cannot apply for grants or loans for rebuilding or repairing the road, leaving the responsibility with Weston County. 
“You could check with anyone in the state. They would say the same thing. We don’t qualify because it is not a city road,” James said.