Shannon Township resident urges county intervention after two years of alleged road neglect

A Shannon Township resident delivered an extended public comment at the Atchison County commissioners’ meeting on May 19, alleging prolonged problems with local road maintenance and access to township equipment.

The resident said a recently voted‑out grader operator has not relinquished keys to the grader and dump truck, preventing the newly selected grader (identified in the comment as Todd Hanky) from accessing equipment. The resident described multiple unsuccessful requests for gravel and maintenance over a two‑year period and said she and family members have been performing ad hoc repairs. She said she has documentation, including text messages and photographs, to support her claims and offered to share that documentation with county staff.

The resident recounted an incident in which she approached the person holding the equipment and said he responded rudely and said, in essence, that she should call him if she got stuck; she described that response as unprofessional and said it prompted her to bring the matter to the county commissioners. She gave the road location as Garfield Road (references also included numbers in the 8200s) and said roughly seven households were affected on the immediate road segment.

Commissioners said they would follow up: they told the resident the county typically would drive out to inspect after receiving a complaint and agreed to make contacts with township leadership. One commissioner noted prior attempts to walk the road with township representatives but said no sustained remediation had followed. No formal county action was recorded at the meeting; commissioners promised to investigate and relay information back to the resident.

What’s next: Commissioners committed to a site inspection and to contacting Shannon Township officials, and requested the resident provide any documentation to assist the review.