Commission hears county road complaints
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 9, 2008
LINDEN &8212; During their first regular session meeting of the year under new chairman Calvin Martin, the County Commission heard from a concerned citizen about the condition of the road in his neighborhood.
John Jones lives on Collier Jones Road, which is known to many as the &8220;Footwash Road&8221; in the north corner of the county. Jones said he has made numerous trips to the commission to discuss the road, which was officially designated a county road within the last several years.
Since it has been designated a county road, Jones said the county is required to work on it and maintain it.
Although Jones reported several occasions where county workers did come to scrape and relay gravel on the quarter-mile stretch that has three residences, he said the work was left incomplete. Furthermore, Jones said a look at records kept by the road department were &8220;disingenuous,&8221; citing several occasions where work was documented as being performed but had not occurred on the road.
His requests to the commission were simple. He wanted more dirt be hauled in to form a crown on the road, as well as repair of a large pothole in the road near the entrance to his own driveway.
After hearing Jones&8217; comments, Commissioner John Crawford, and Ken Atkins, county engineer, agreed to go to the property to examine the previous roadwork and then determine what could be done.
Marengo County Economic Development Authority
Commissioner Ken Tucker gave a report to the commission on the status of the newly formed economic development authority, which will have its first organizational meeting this week.
According to Tucker all eight participating municipalities &8212; Demopolis, Linden, Thomaston, Sweet Water, Faunsdale, Dayton, Myrtlewood and Providence &045; have accepted the by-laws of the authority, approved their individual financial commitments and appointed members to the board.
The advisory committee that helped to form the authority will continue to remain intact during the process of organization, Tucker said. The first tasks for the authority to accomplish will be passing by-laws, electing officers and forming an executive board. Once these things have been completed, Tucker said the new authority would begin the hiring process for an executive director.
In other business, the commission:
Approved a resolution to use state funds to repair roads in the French Creek area.
Approved advertising purchases for upcoming special sections of The Demopolis Times.