A Wright City resident believes a state statute will allow Wright City to use funds on a road officials claim it doesn't own or have any responsibility to maintain. While speaking to Wright City aldermen at the Dec. 9 meeting, Matt Kaatman presented the board with a copy of a statute that allows cities to allocate funds for road construction or repair of a road that leads to and from a city. Kaatman was speaking specifically about the need to improve Stuermann Road. Answers have yet to materialize on who legally owns the much-debated road and who is responsible for the maintenance. Stuermann Road serves as the lone entrances from Highway H into the Falcon Crest and Timber Trails subdivisions in the southwest part of the city. The road is only about 12 feet wide for the first three-tenths of a mile and is not aligned with the remainder of a wide portion closer to the subdivisions' entrances. There are approximately 250 lots in the two subdivisions combined. The road's condition has angered property owners and builders, who reapproached the city in January asking for help after one side of the roadway became nearly impassable on one side due to buckling pavement. City officials have long contended that it does not own Stuermann Road and that it is a county road. That stance, however, has been met with opposition from county officials and residents. The statute presented by Kaatman states that any incorporated town or village has the power to annually appropriate and pay out a sum of money, not to exceed 10 percent of the annual general revenue fund, for construction or repair of any public road, street, highway and bridge leading to and from a city. The statute only applies to roads within five miles of the city limits. In past discussions on the road, city officials said the city couldn't spend money on a road it doesn't own. Kaatman, however, believes the statute allows the city to do just that. "To me, this is excellent news," Kaatman said. "This seems like exactly what we need for a short term solution, especially right before winter. This would permit us to clear the asphalt spikes and the holes and put gravel down to make it two lanes the entire way. I hope you all see this as good news as I do." City officials said the statute needed to be reviewed further to determine how it applies to the city. "It wasn't something I was aware of," Alderman Jim Schumann told The Record. "Maybe it can expand what we can do. At the same time, we're working on the situation." A title search was recently conducted by another party to determine ownership, but came up empty. Many believe Stuermann Road to be a county road until the time the quitclaim deed was prepared. The city has performed some maintenance on it and has cleared snow from the road. A public hearing was held at which time the county commission voted to deed the road over to the city. Several city officials were in attendance. The quitclaim deed was prepared, but was voted down by Wright City aldermen at that time. In February, aldermen voted to stop issuing building permits at the request of residents and the county, over concerns that heavy construction equipment would lead to further deterioration of the road, The county commission previously stated they would make minor improvements to Stuermann Road, but a signed agreement transferring ownership must be finalized before any work begins. Ken McLaughlin, whose property is adjacent to Stuermann Road, questioned the slow progress. "How long does this take?" he asked. "You have builders out there losing their shirts literally. I would hate to see anybody else go under. We already have one man go under already." Schuchmann responded that city officials remain frustrated from the lack of progress being made, but reiterated that work is being done to resolve the issue. "There are a lot of different parties with a lot of different interests," he said. "It takes time to get responses back and making sure those are responses are satisfactory to everyone involved. I wish it was a quicker process. I wish it was done three years ago." PR Development, the company which developed the property, indicated it was going to maintain and relocate the road to the south on top of a hillcrest, but did not follow through on that plan. Since then, the company filed for bankruptcy. The city also failed to collect escrow money that could have been used on the road after the company failed to complete the work as promised.