Bridge Project Could Land In Court After Monday’s Vote

    The wooden bridge crosses Turkey Creek on County Road 131 and is scheduled to be replaced using state funds allocated through the Local System Bridge Program (L.S.B.P).

    A potential problem first surfaced after former tax assessor/collector Guy Dale Shaw – one of three landowners who the county is working with to obtain needed right-of-way for the project –  told supervisors  that the proposed project would dam up Turkey Creek and damage his property. The other two landowner have granted the county access for the project.

    Shaw’s comments came during a February board meeting in which he questioned the drainage assessment performed by the county’s engineering firm, Willis Engineering.

    Shaw also argued that it was senseless to spend $500,000 to fix a “community road” when $500 worth of bridge runners would fix the bridge for the next 20 years.

    Engineer Carl Grubb refuted Shaw’s assessment of the project, explaining to supervisors in that same February meeting that the new bridge would be longer and more elevated. This design could actually help alleviate flooding that already occurs during heavy rainfall on County Road 131, Grubb also told supervisors.

    “We have no choice but to proceed in eminent domain,” Board Attorney John Crow advised supervisors when the matter was discussed on Monday.

    “I asked him (Shaw) if there was any way possible that he and I could work this thing out without going to court,” District 1 Supervisor Tommy Vaughn also reported. “He said, no, you are just going to do what you are going to have to do,” Vaughn added.

    “The county has a right to acquire that property for public use,” Crow added.

    Following the discussion, supervisors voted 5 – 0 to proceed with court action. Vaughn also reported he had expended almost $40,000 in his beat funds on the preliminary work for the bridge project. He will recoup 80 percent of this money if the bridge is replaced using the L.S.B.P. funds.

    The bridge is one of seven wooden bridges remaining in the county according to Grubb.