Commissioners Continue November Lane Discussion

By JACK BAGLEY
The Meriwether County Commission met on July 7 and had an extended discussion regarding the addition of November Lane to the county road system.
Residents of the road were in attendance to discuss the issue with the Commissioners as the item was tabled from an earlier meeting. Cynthia Dunlap represented the residents in speaking with the Commission, and she said the road’s residents thought all they would need to do is quit-claim the right of way to the county. Commission Chairman Adam Worsley replied that the county will need a professional survey done on the road to determine which properties would be impacted, and that survey will have to be paid for by the property owners. Worsley said November Road is not a county road and never has been.
Dunlap replied that November Road was never a private road, saying “someone” made it a private road and the county should have documentation of that somewhere. She said the road has been county-maintained, but Worsley noted that the county has proof it was never a county-maintained road.
The chairman told Dunlap that county staff had looked to find out what happened and pulled records of meetings going back several years, and have found that there is no evidence it was ever a public road. There was one incident where a county road crew was sent to do work in 2010, but Worsley said that did not mean it was a county road on the county system.
Commissioner Gene King asked Dunlap if November Road was a county road, why were residents asking for it to be added to the county road system? Dunlap replied that a former road official, Bruce O’Neal, had told her that the road was county-maintained and the public works department would fix it, but O’Neal was no longer with the county.
County Clerk Allyson Stephens found a record from the November 23, 2010 Commission meeting that stated November Lane is a private road, and that board gave O’Neal approval for one-time road service. It was the only record found showing work done on November Lane.
Worsley said that the residents and the county need to be protected legally, and once the residents get the survey done the county can get the rights-of-way quit-claimed. Commissioner Jennifer Snelson added that the work done in 2010 was a one-time right of entry, after Dunlap said the work done had cause damages to her property. The Commissioners voted in the end to table the discussion until the survey is done and the county has the documentation needed to move forward.
The Commissioners approved a request from Jacob Clare for the use of a parcel of land at 507 Dan Road in Woodbury for a five-space RV campground, provided eight conditions were met: a code of conduct must be posted, no permanent fixtures could be on site, quiet times must be posted, no camper would be able to stay over 90 days and must be off site 30 days before returning, no more than five campers can be located on the site, no camper could house more people than the manufacturer’s recommendation, all other county code requirements must be met, and a fence and keypad gate must be installed.
A discussion about allocation of funds in the general projects line item led to a discussion about radio systems for public safety in the county. County Administrator John Gorton said staff recommended allocation of a portion of funding for the development of public safety communications infrastructure, and Worsley noted that just a year and a half ago the county purchased a new radio system and wondered why it was needed to do it again. Gorton said that the county’s communication infrastructure currently consists of four or five towers covering the entire 502 square miles of Meriwether, and some areas of the county need better coverage, noting that in some spots the current system is little better than cell phones. The Commissioners voted to table the discussion of allocation discussion to the August 4 meeting to allow staff to gather more information.
The Commissioners voted to approve a referendum placing the SPLOST question on the November general election ballot.
In other business, the Meriwether County Commission:
• Reappointed Jennifer Jones to the Pathways Community Services Board;
• Tabled to July 22 an appointment to the Recreation Advisory Board for District 4;
• Approved accepting a contract with Lifeline Billing Services for EMS billing;
• Approved purchase of a diesel ambulance chassis to replace a wrecked ambulance from Meagle Ford for $65,656.90;
• Approved a bid from Custom Body Works to remove the ambulance box from the wrecked ambulance and remount it on the new chassis for $72,334;
• Approved a request that the county act as the official applicant for a bridge replacement on County Line Road;
• Received an update on county code enforcement;
• Placed the County Election Building on Court Square in Greenville out for bids with a minimum of $115,000; AND
• Discussed addition of roads to the 2025 LMIG and approved allowing EMC Engineering to do an assessment of all paved roads in the county.
The next regular meeting of the Meriwether County Commission will be Tuesday, July 22, at 6 p.m.