“Common sense should prevail”

In a continued discussion brought forward by District 4 supervisor George Zinn III, the board of supervisors took up locating all road materials and equipment at the County Road Department.

Until recently, gravel and road materials have been stored in areas in the districts, especially one in District 4 and one in District 3.

Zinn said storing rock piles in different districts was common when the county was under the beat system, but now that about 70 percent of county roads are paved, micro sealed, or sealed with DBST (Double Bituminous Surface Treatment) the need for keeping road materials in the various districts is now passé.

He said he really would like a motion to move all materials and equipment under one roof.

“So, why was it legal and not now?” asked District 2 supervisor Johnny Walker.

Zinn made his own motion and District 5 supervisor Ronnie O’Neil Bennett seconded.

“The way I’ve been told the unit system is one spot,” Bennett said.

The motion passed 4-0 with District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor absent.

More discussion followed.

“So, does Mr. Jeffries (road manager) need to go get it?” Walker asked.

Jeffries said the bush hogs and motor graders are left out in locations for convenience and often with approval of private landowners to park them on their properties.

District 1 supervisor Charles Terry said if the road manager thinks it best to leave some equipment out in the county until roadsides are set aside during winter, then he approves of that. But as far as road material, “it needs to go to the shed,” he said.

Board attorney Amanda Whaley Smith offered advice.

“You need to be specific on what type of equipment,” she said. “Mr. Jeffries may say bush hogs need to be parked.”

“Road graders,” said Bennett. “I will refine the motion if equipment is being used in an area for a specific job, it can be parked on the county right-of-way and should not be brought back to the shop.”

“I’m thinking Atway Road and Slayden Road,” said Terry. “There’s a lot of fine tuning to add to what has been said.

“Just about all of it is private property,” Walker said.

“Common sense should prevail here,” Smith said. `Sometimes if there’s not a good county road right-of-way, and you should be able to do that. It is consistent with the law about the motion just made. It’s necessary for economy.”

Terry suggested that the voting precincts could be a place to legally park equipment.

“We’re not using bush hogs in winter, so take it back (at the end of the season),” Smith said “I think we need to take the equipment part out, the bush hogs and road graders,” Walker said.

County engineer Larry Britt said the order could run into issues when paving roads with the county’s asphalt paver.

“You have to stockpile materials to do paving,” he said.

“It should be under the road manager’s discretion,” Bennett said.

Terry said this discussion about parking equipment on private property should have taken place before the motion was called to a vote.

He recommended amending the motion to leave it under the road manager’s discretion of where to leave equipment for specific jobs.

“The rock has to be taken back to the shop,” Bennett said. “We can’t have two acres fenced off on private property to store rock or sand.”

Bennett was referring to rock stored in District 3 on private property.

“There may be times you need to store materials for a job ongoing,” Smith said.

A motion to amend the motion to say bring all rock piles and materials back to the road department and allow the road manager discretion for when and where equipment can be stored.

The amended motion passed 4-0.

Terry then shared some suggestions he heard at the conference.

“Someone said in the unit system, you don’t have a district. You work for the whole county,” he said.

He said they advised county boards of supervisors to avoid having a 3-2 board.

Zinn said he didn’t know the planning and development district would do the road mapping and make suggestions on the order that roads need to be repaired or overlaid. The mapping is free to counties, he said.

“But they didn’t say what it would cost,” Walker said.

Bennett appointed Wesley Benson as his representative to the Fairgrounds board. He also allocated $3,500 for his district to build a backstop netting at the Potts Camp High School.