This story has been updated with additional information from the Spring Lakes Subdivision Homeowners Association. 

Improvements to the much maligned Indian Head Lodge Road could be coming soon if residents who use the road daily and Wright City officials can finalize a cost-share agreement. 

Wright City received a bid for the overlay of Indian Head Lodge Road for $68,310 on April 11. In a letter to the homeowner’s associations of the Spring Lake, Villas at Spring Lakes and Greenfield Estates subdivisions said if the homeowners could come up with the funds, the city would move forward with the overlay and initiate the process of annexing the road into the city limits. 

That bid will expire on May 11. 

“In return for covering this one-time cost, (Wright City) is prepared to assume full responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the road moving forward,” stated the city in the letter. 

Nicci Fears, speaking on behalf of the subdivisions off Indian Head Lodge Road, asked the city for roughly $34,000 to cover half the cost of an overlay on the crumbling road at the April 24 board of aldermen meeting. She said their group has already crowdfunded $25,000 and intends to raise the additional $9,000 to cover the other half of the cost. 

Indian Head Lodge Road is technically an easement, running through four properties and connecting to three subdivisions, two of which are within the city limits and include city-maintained streets. 

With 252 homes included across the three subdivisions, the cost to overlay the road would be $271 per household. 

Fears cited three instances where the city had spent money on improving the road in the past, and claimed they had established a precedent of the city maintaining the road. 

Alderman Ramiz Hakim owns one of those properties, and part of the road, and has recused himself from public discussion of the road, including at the April 24 meeting. 

Fears also pointed out that, unlike other private roads in Wright City, Indian Head Lodge Road serves as the only access road to city-owned streets. 

“It is the only way to access multiple city-owned streets within Spring Lakes and Spring Lake Villas, making it effectively a public-use road in every practical sense,” said Fears. 

In a joint meeting between the city, the HOAs and the county in July 2024, aldermen presented several options to homeowners that could be used to bring the road up to city specifications, at which point Wright City could take ownership. 

One of those solutions was similar to what was presented to the board on April 24, requiring residents to come up with the money to overlay the road. 

Mayor Michelle Heiliger said that while she understood the concerns of the residents, the city did not have the funds to cover the cost and would have to discuss what to do moving forward before making any decisions. 

She said the offer made by the city was consistent with the city’s efforts to fix problems on Stuermann Road, where homeowners paid $500 each as they purchased their houses to build a fund used to repair the street. 

“We applied the same theory, that’s how we were able to do Stuermann Road and we said we’ll do the exact same thing and then we can take in Indian Head Lodge Road,” said Heiliger. “It’s fair, it’s consistent with what we’ve done in the past, but at the end of the day, we have a budget just like everybody else.”

She said the city already has a plan for repairs on roads within the city limits that are in disrepair like Roelker Road and Westwoods Road and they are already stepping those plans back because of a lack of funds. 

Heiliger asked why residents expected the city to cover the difference but did not expect the same from their homeowners associations. 

David Short, president of the Spring Lake HOA, said per their bylaws the HOA is not allowed to spend money on repairs like the ones required on the road. 

Short clarified the HOA is only allowed to spend money on items that fall within the subdivisions plat maps including easements. Since the portion of Indian Head Lodge Road that is in need of repair does not fall within those limits it is outside of their purview and they cannot legally dedicate funds to that project, according to Short. 

He continued saying they recently had to raise dues to cover costs like insurance and lake management and even raising those funds was difficult. 

Alderman Don Andrews raised questions about why the board would not cover half the costs with residents when they had previously been open to a similar arrangement with the county government. 

“If we were willing to make the deal with the county, at half, why can’t we make the deal with our residents,” said Andrews. 

Heiliger continued to cite the lack of funds available and Alderman Kim Arbuthnot pointed out when the city worked to repair Stuermann Road, residents there were not offered the same deal. 

“These are not the only citizens we represent, we have to be fair,” said Arbuthnot. “We didn’t give residents of Stuermann Road half.”

Arbuthnot continued saying she was not against finding the funds somewhere, but that it was something the city would have to discuss. 

Heiliger said the board would have to discuss what part of the budget would have to be cut in order to find the $34,000 required to cover half of the repairs. 

“You’re going to have to cut something, you’re gonna have to cut something out in order to pay this money,” said Heiliger. “Abbie (Ogborn) and I went through the budget today and it’s just not there.”

The board will have to have that discussion to determine, what, if any money they can find to cover repairs on Indian Head Lodge and whether or not it is responsible to do so. 

“We absolutely will attempt to try,” said Arbuthnot.