Mason County Commissioners approved the first reading of an ordinance which would remove three roads from the county system and close a portion of one of those roads.
Part of Taylor Mill Road northwest of the L and N Railroad tracks will be closed to traffic as it has deteriorated badly and there is not enough right of way available to make repairs, County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer said.
The remainder of the road will be removed from the county system but will remain as a public roadway.
Pfeffer and County Attorney John Estill said the move came after the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet asked the county to review the list of roads it maintains. Roads that were found to serve more for private than public use were placed on the list. Those roads included Taylor Mill Road, Bess Lane, Stephens Hill Road, Cummins Road and Washington Cemetery Road. Notices were sent to residents of the road, the roads were posted with the county’s intentions and volunteer viewers Tom Coe and Larry Brewer reviewed the roads.
After hearing from residents of both Bess Lane and Stephens Hill Road, commissioners excluded those roads from the list. Among residents who spoke against the move were property owners Kelly Applegate, Jacob Bevins, Greg Bess, Darrell Williams and Sheila Collins.
Most said they felt their tax dollars were well beyond the expense to maintain the gravel roads and that removing the roads from county over site would mean a loss in property values for the land mostly used for farming.
In the case of Taylor Mill property owned by Applegate and Marilyn Holmes, the road provides the only access to those properties and the county will have the land appraised and negotiate concessions with the owners for lost access.
In the end, commissioners declined to act on the portion of the proposal involving Bess Lane and Stephens Hill Road while Taylor Mill, Cummins Road and Washington Cemetery Road, which Pfeffer said “is not a public road in an fashion whatsoever,” remained on the list.
A second reading of the ordinance is set for the Nov. 12, meeting.
Also Tuesday, the county agreed to engage a Florida law firm to represent its interest in a nationwide opioid class action lawsuit.
The case involves thousands of plaintiffs at every level of government and defendants in the chain of opioid drug production — from major multinational corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and CVS, down to individual doctors, according to NPR. On Oct. 21, the first trial is set to begin before a judge in the Northern District of Ohio.
The county had previously agreed to work with another law firm but efforts to contact the firm for information were not successful, Estill said.
In other business, the court:
— Heard from Drew Wood about his project to place smoke detectors in home throughout Mason County, working with his siblings, Wood is hoping to secure funding through grants and donations to provide enough of the devices to adequately equip each home in the county. Commissioners approved a resolution in support of the project.
— Learned from Michelle Crawford that the Orangeburg Lions Club has property it would like to gift to the county to develop into a park or walking space.
The property was deeded to the Lions Club by the Ensor family with the stipulation that it be maintained as green space, Crawford said. But developing the property into a park has proven to be beyond the club’s means, she said, and she has been unable to secure grant funding for the project.
Pfeffer said the court would work with Crawford in hopes of finding available grants and other funding sources but declined, at this time, to take ownership of the property.
— Approved the purchase of two mobile radios for Emergency Management. Cost of the radios, at $925 each, will be split between the county and the city.
— Learned Sheriff Patrick Boggs received a $50,000 grant from Homeland Security to install repeaters to benefit communications for law enforcement in the schools. The county agreed to fund an additional $3,770 of the project.
— Heard reports from county offices and departments.
— Heard form Pfeffer that Suzan Ross has been appointed to the Industrial Development Authority.
