Residents still await road


Thursday, July 14, 2011
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Residents still await road

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Residents in Tara Oaks Subdivision, now populated with eight homes, are awaiting a final topping of a new road by one of the developers.

Resident Grace Bonds returned recently with fresh complaints to the Marshall County Board of Supervisors. She and neighbor Walter Bain Jr. have been sharing their private drive so residents can access their homes. A promised new roadbed has been prepared as an entry through city boundaries into the subdivision that is located in the county, but no road topping has been added, she said.

Many different problems have arisen out of the lack of access to the subdivision. A road was held up because of city ordinance concerns for a few years, then the road was postponed until the new North Holly Springs Bypass Road was completed. Mail delivery and correct 911 addresses were also pawns in the prolonged affair in which the residents waited for action and a new road. Now the roadbed to the subdivision, which is located in the city limits, has been made up and dressed three times but has not been paved or graveled, she said. The road is located just west of the Marshall County Humane Society’s animal shelter on Highway 311.

The board of supervisors has worked to get the situation resolved by having attorneys for the two governments discuss the sticky situation while the solution waned. The county passed a moratorium on any future development in the subdivision until the matter of an access to the subdivision was settled.

“The road is nice looking, it just needs topping,” said county board attorney Kent Smith. “Ultimately the county is going to be involved because it is a county subdivision.”

Supervisor Keith Taylor agreed that litigation may result that involves the county, the city of Holly Springs, the land developer and the homeowners.

“We all are going to get dragged into this,” Smith said.

Supervisor George Zinn III suggested Bonds and her neighbor put a gate across their private drive to stop unlawful traffic through their property by residents of Tara Oaks. Bonds and Bain had expressed initial concern that their children were in danger from the unlawful traffic through their properties. But they were rue to deny access to the subdivision to their neighbors.

“We have gone long enough and just sat idly by,” said supervisor Willie Flemon. “The people in the subdivision have suffered enough.”

Meanwhile, one elected official has offered to attempt to mediate the situation with the developer in attempt to ward off an unwanted civil suit.

IDA/airport report

Bill Mobley, executive director of the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority, reported positive attention as a result of the recent groundbreaking ceremony for I-269 at the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. There has also been excitement about the airport.

“Lots of folks have contacted us about hangers,” he said. “We do not have hangers but we need to get some money for them, now that people know we have an airport.”

Inquiries are up about possible locations for manufacturing as well as other site uses, he said.

“Everything is looking real good right now,” he said. “We are looking at accessed values for ASICS’ new facility that goes on the tax rolls January 1, and they are looking to add 650,000 square feet to this facility after this one.”

He said work on the sewer project at Cayce Road and Highway 72 is moving along smoothly.

Supervisors’ report

Zinn recognized Bro. R.J. Wilson of Mt. Moriah Chapel for letting the county hold a water project meeting for the Marianna community in the church facility.

Chancery clerk Chuck Thomas reported a claim from R.E.S. coming to about $57,000.

Then Larry Hall, county administrator/road manager, brought Ken Jones and Dale Colwell with Waste Connections before supervisors to report on the close-out of service by R.E.S. in June and the beginning of residential household waste collection by Waste Connections.

Waste Connections had some cart delivery problems starting up service and R.E.S. still had some of its containers to collect. That left some confusion among residents on which can to put their garbage in or what to do with garbage on hand from over the July 4th holiday, Hall said.

“It’s been fairly smooth for something this size,” Colwell said.

Seven former R.E.S. employees who live in the county are now working for the new provider, he said. The provider has brought in all new trucks, has 1,100 carts left to deliver, mostly in the Highway 7 Thursday route and has put out 9,400 carts. The cart count is expected to be about 10,500 or less when every customer has a new cart, Colwell said.

Supervisors were concerned that the swapping out of service containers was not smoother for their districts and said they had taken complaints from constituents.

“If you pick up a can, another can needs to be setting there,” said supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett. But he was quick to add, “Good job.”

Jones said part of the problem is that the provider needs 911 addresses before putting out a cart because the address is connected to the cart, the service and the billing.

Zinn gave an example of a 911 sign that was down when the carts were delivered and a constituent did not get a cart. Once the sign was put up and the item reported, his constituent received prompt service, he said.

Supervisor Keith Taylor thanked Jones for working over the holiday weekend with Waste Connections to help get carts delivered before Monday’s route.

“Some people say they won’t pay the first month without a can,” Taylor said.

He said the county should have had the new carts delivered a week early.

Bennett urged putting more bite into the law regarding posting of 911 addresses at the driveway entrance.

Hall said there were some R.E.S. cans that had yet to be picked up.

“These cans need dumping, whether it’s yours or theirs,” he told Colwell.

R.E.S. did not pick up containers that were labeled Marshall County and Waste Connections will not empty any can except their own, Jones said.

In other business, the board of supervisors:

• accepted Rogers Group as low bidder on laying asphalt in place and chose Standard Construction as alternate bidder.

• discussed a request to NorthCentral EPA for drop-boxes for power bills to be located in Byhalia and other sites.

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