By: Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County TimesBailey Cemetery Road Number One and a portion of Campbell Road were removed from the county road system in a special session on Monday, following a public hearing on plans to remove the roads that failed to draw any opposition to the planned move. The roads were in the process of being removed from the system prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when state limitations on public meetings halted progress. When Governor Andy Beshear opened public meetings to 50 or fewer participants this week, fiscal court went forward with plans to remove the two roads.
Bailey Cemetery Road Number One was removed completely from the county road system, and returned to the property owner. However, because it is a cemetery road, the land owner has to allow access to the cemetery. In the event someone was going to be interred in the cemetery the county road crew would be responsible for putting down gravel or otherwise making the road passable for funeral traffic.
Only a portion of Campbell Road was removed from the county system. The portion from mile marker 0.92 to the junction with Route 1 was removed from the county system and turned over to the landowner. The other end of Campbell Road, from Field’s Branch to mile marker 0.92, remains in the county road system and must be maintained by county road crews.
The court also took action to begin the process of removing Cooks Creek Road and the middle portion of Nicholas Road from the county road system. If the court receives no objection to the plan during a future public hearing, Cooks Creek Road will be removed from the county system from the first cattle crossing to the end of the road. The portion from 1496 up to the first cattle crossing will remain in the county road system.
The issue with Nicholas Road was brought to the county’s attention by E911 director Joe Lambert. Lambert told the court the middle section of the road has become overgrown, and is impassable by vehicle. To avoid confusion for rescue vehicles, who may think they can take the road through to reach a home with current mapping data, Lambert recommended removing the middle section, and renaming and giving new addresses to one section of the road while maintaining the Nicholas Road name and addresses on the other end.
Two disinterested magistrates will need to visit and assess the state of the roads in question, and register their reports on the roads, before the processes can begin.
In other action the court moved to approve claims and transfers, and approved three percent raises for county employees in the 2020/2021 budget. The raises will be received by all county employees except jail employees, who received raises in the previous fiscal year.
The court also approved a request from Judge Executive Mike Malone to draft a letter thanking the Carter County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for their service and asking them to vacate office space provided for them in the courthouse. Malone said CASA personnel have not utilized the office since December and, with renovations currently underway rendering some office space unusable, the court could make use of that currently unused office if CASA cleared the space.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com