County Commission to consider vacating road

LINDEN — Ben Ballard and other land owners along Dirt Pit Road took the first steps Tuesday toward having the road vacated.

Ballard, speaking to the Marengo County Commission, said the road has become a dumping ground for household trash, a statement backed up by the district’s councilman Calvin Martin who said, “It’s an eyesore.

“I counted five dump sites,” added county engineer Ken Atkins.

While the 1.5-mile through road has no houses, it is the location of an unkempt cemetery. Ballard said he and his family plan to clean it up.

He said the landowners want to put a gate at each end of the road and have a key available to anyone who wants to visit the cemetery.

County attorney W.W. Dinning Jr. told Ballard to submit the names of all the landowners, and he would proceed with the filing of a petition. After a public hearing, the commission can declare the road vacated.

The commission passed a property tax resolution calling for 24 mills per $100 worth of taxable property.

The resolution breaks down the millage as follows: 8 mills for general expenses; 4, road and bridge; 2, fire tax; 5, county-wide schools; 3, Demopolis, Putnam and District 2 schools, and 3, District 1 and 3 schools.

Sarah Smith again made a plea to the commissioners to pick up her salary at the Community Action Agency.

Funding for her position through the Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission ended in March 2014, and she has been working on a volunteer basis since then.

Supporting Smith’s request was Yolanda Jones, office manager, who said Smith’s work is very important to the agency.

“We will have to look into it,” commission chairman Freddie Armstead said.

After a lengthy executive session, the commission named Aquanetta Daniels to be the new jail administrator and adjusted her pay to the new position.

In other action, commissioners approved work to paint and clean gutters, okayed an ad in the Demopolis Times and heard from commissioner John Crawford that the county is getting closer to resolving the old trailer problem along County Road 1.