LIBERTY — Seven residents who live on Chisholm Road in Liberty complained Friday about road conditions.
The group addressed District 4 supervisor Travis Taylor at the county board of supervisors meeting.
“We’ve just got to have some help on Chisholm Road,” said Derrell Stewart. “It’s just horrible. The water’s across the road in nine places. It’s just like a river. All the culverts are stopped up. I asked Travis before I built a house out there about the road, and he said he had it on his schedule to pave the road. … I assure you, I wouldn’t have built a house out there if I’d known it was going to be that kind of road.”
Cornelia Gayden, agreed and said she bought her property with plans to build a home — if the road was blacktopped.
“I’ve signed off on the easement to take whatever road property on the front of mine that you want,” Gayden said. “We have about 41 houses on Chisholm Road. Chisholm connects two counties. There’s tons of traffic there.”
Lane Pattie said he even received a notice from the postal service that said mail would not be delivered after heavy rains because of dangerous road conditions.
Taylor said he has obtained many of the other residents’ easements in order to start the blacktopping process.
Chisholm Road needs to be widened before it can be paved, Taylor said, and that is a long process. That process includes moving power lines, telephone poles and water lines — and obtaining the funding to complete the project.
“I got the easements, but I can’t make the (road development agency) and the telephone people and the water people come out there,” Taylor said. “But coincidentally, the power people are supposed to meet with me this evening. I’m going to widen that road, and like I told you start with, it is my hope to blacktop that road. And I’m still telling you it’s my hope to blacktop that road.”
Taylor said he couldn’t just jump right in and pave the road without the proper funds. He assured the residents that he would do all he could to have the road widened and paved.
But the residents weren’t convinced.
“The biggest thing here that we all have a connection with is just tell us what you mean and mean what you say,” Gayden said.
“I’m still hoping to blacktop that road. I’m working on that road,” Taylor said.
In other news, the board agreed to lift the burn ban in Amite County. Emergency management director Sam Walsh said the recent rains made the burn ban unnecessary.
“As long as people are cautious with their burning, I think we’ll be alright,” Walsh said.
