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  Townes Road residents continue plea for road paving web posted May 2, 2008 EDGEFIELD – Townes Road was the main issue brought before the Edgefield County Transportation Committee Thursday afternoon by residents seeking to find a way to get the road, or a portion of the road, paved. “We’re basically boxed in,” Dr. Bill Jackson said, by land owned by various members of a family that owns the first quarter mile of the road. The issue is based on the county being unable to obtain easements needed in order to pave the road. “I don’t see how a man that does not live on the road can just say no and that’s it,” Dr. Jackson, who has lived on the road for twenty-eight years, said. In past years there was some progress made with a majority of the newer residents along the dirt road willing to give the county the needed property. However, failing to get the various family members to agree the plans fell through. Dr. Jackson said he and others have approached the Edgefield County Council about the matter and were told to petition the Transportation Committee for an exception to pave the road “as is”. Chairman Sam Crouch stated, “We cannot, and never have and I hope we never will, put asphalt on a road that we do not have the right of way to do so. We or the county would be subject to be sued if we did.” Chairman Crouch explained that many of the old roads in the county are “grandfathered” in and, “They’ve been a road for a hundred years. Nobody can say anything about it. You put a coat of asphalt on it and you have trespassed on somebody’s property. It is a whole different ballgame.” Dr. Jackson directed the committee’s attention to a handout he presented that quoted the minutes of a County Council May 2, 2006 meeting. Former County Administrator Wayne Adams asked the council if they would consider allowing the county to pave roads with less right of way than the standard fifty-foot easments. The official minutes read: “The chairman stated that he has ridden about every road in the county and he felt there are not ten roads in this county that have a fifty or sixty foot right of way- lucky to get twenty five to thirty feet. If you hold it to a forty-eight to a fifty foot right of way, you are out of the business in paving county roads. In one day, the administrator and the road supervisor rode about six roads and measured several and some of the right of way is as low as eighteen – twenty feet. Some of them are already paved. Mr. Kneece’s suggestion was to take the roads on a road-by-road basis. Windy Ridge, in Mr. Kneece’s opinion, will never be paved if you hold it to that right of way (50 ft.) There are some that bottle neck in and some that bottle neck out. If you take it on a case by case basis and you get down to a twenty eight or thirty feet, pave the road that you can do with that and then put a thirty-thirty five mph speed limit sign.” Dr. Jackson asked why Townes Road could not be treated the same way. The question was given to County Administrator John Pettigrew Jr. who said he had no idea what Chairman Kneece said at the time, which was before he was administrator, and did not wish to speak for him. The minutes of the meeting showed Westside Councilman Everett Kitchens made the motion to keep all roads at the current fifty-foot easements and was seconded by Merriwether Councilman Joel Hudson. The measure passed unanimously, basically dashing any plans to pave the road which resulted in it being pulled from the list of roads placed for paving. Dr. Erin Williams addressed the panel saying that the current easement on the road is about thirty feet. “If you go up here to Shaw Estates and you measure from back of the curb to back of the curb with a tape measure it’s twenty-one feet.” Dr. Williams said they were not there to fight the family or take any of their land. “They’re our neighbors,” he said, adding that their concerns were more for the safety of those who travel the road. They included two school busses and a growing number of cars and even tractor-trailers. Dr. Michael Willoughby spoke up and asked if the county attorney could check into the legalities involved on maintaining the road. He said he did not see where it was any different for the county to maintain the road by putting down gravel than it would be to put down asphalt. The committee agreed to allow a legal opinion to be sought on the matter before discussing it further. The jester seemed moot, as the county council has voted to maintain the standards passed. In other business the paving of Winding Road will be pushed back until the next fiscal year due to easements needing to be obtained. Guy Muller told the committee that projects that fell short of the “25%” state projects for the year and would have to return a little over $77,000 to the state. Marsh Place Road will be looked at for possible improvements and an issue addressed about McCain Road found the road is a private road and the county has no authority regarding its upkeep. With no other business the meeting was adjourned. ©
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