Streets in our towns may not provide such smooth sailing as some people want, but the Simpson County Board of Supervisors is willing to step up.
The board heard a request from D’Lo’s mayor John Henry Berry at Monday’s board meeting.
Berry is asking the county to take over road maintenance for his city. Currently, $40,000 is set aside in D’Lo’s budget for road maintenance. Berry requested that be set aside for paving projects.
The board was not so receptive to the idea that there would be restrictions on their agreeing to take up the responsibility. An estimate shows that the town has ten miles of road and that $40,000 would not go far in the work that is required.
The county board’s discussion led to their asking the board from the Town of D’Lo to meet with them prior to approval to ensure against misunderstandings. The county has a similar agreement with Braxton for road maintenance.
Supervisor Brian Kennedy who represents part of D’Lo, along with Supervisor Mitchell Chatman, said they wanted D’Lo leaders to understand that the county would not be paving but rather maintaining the streets.
In other business, the board approved an emergency declaration to allow for the purchase of a knuckle boom truck for continued storm debris cleanup. The county current has one, but it is in a bad state of repair. The board approved the action with Supervisor Chatman voting against.
At a special called meeting on Thursday morning the board approved the purchase and opted to go with a four-year lease purchase agreement at the end of the four years.
Road manager Ben Warren reported that a significant amount of overtime has been associated with the cleanup effort from February’s winter storm. He stated that grinding and re-surfacing are still planned for April and May.
The board heard from John Floyd about the maintenance of Mattie Burton Road. Floyd contends that because it is a public road, it should be maintained by the county. The county states that it is a drive, which is private, and for that reason they can not maintain it. At one point, more residents lived on the road. Now that is not the case, and Floyd owns the property.
He contends that it was named a road because there was a road sign that designated it so. The board said that was not so and would not agree to maintain it because it was not listed on the county’s master road list.
Research indicated that there was not an official action of the board designating it as a road.
Floyd is the same individual who had issues with the county garbage turning on his drive and breaking the concrete. When the county offered settlement, Floyd refused the county’s offer. They also refused to help with the road.
The board acknowledged that a notice of claim had been filed in the courts by Shelia McKay in regard to the Sheriff’s Department.
The board accepted the lowest bid from Alan Coleman Construction for a bridge project on Sofa Road. The bid was in the amount of $326,748.25.
