Lauderdale County supervisors are weighing their options after a group of residents signed a petition asking them to permanently close a portion of Ken Davis Road.

Permanently closed roads are removed from the county road inventory and are no longer maintained by the county. In most cases, the property is transferred to whomever owns the land on either side of it.

In a work session Thursday, Road Manager Rush Mayatt said Ken Davis Road has been closed to through traffic for approximately a year after several cross pipes running under the road failed. While the county has been able to replace some of the pipes, others are located in right-of-way owned by the railroad and require coordination between the county and railroad that has not yet been complete, he said.

Ken Davis Road is a dirt road located in District 2 off of Sam Lackey Road, Mayatt said, and residents of both Ken Davis Road and Sam Lackey Road signed on to the petition. The road isn’t heavily trafficked, he said, and closing it won’t have a big impact.

“It’s probably a good one to do that to,” he said.

Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said state law outlines a process the Board of Supervisors will need to follow if it plans to move forward with the residents’ petition. Supervisors will need to set a public hearing and provide adequate notice to the impacted landowners so they have an opportunity to voice their opinions before the board takes any action. Public hearings must also be advertised ahead of time to inform residents of their opportunity to speak.

After the hearing has been conducted, supervisors will then be able to take any comments or concerns into consideration before making a decision on closing the road.

“It doesn’t happen immediately,” he said.

Thaggard said the county will also need to work up a detailed legal description of what is being closed. The petition describes what residents are looking for, he said, but the language will need to be exact for the county’s purposes.

Supervisor Craig Houston, whose district includes Ken Davis Road, said he will support the residents’ wishes to have the road permanently closed. Removing the road from the county’s inventory will also free up resources to be redirected at other roads that are more heavily used, he said.

County Maintenance Facility

In other business, Mayatt said construction on the road department’s new County Maintenance Facility off of Highway 39 and Windmill Drive is coming along well. Furniture will likely start going in next week, he said, and a move-in day is not far off.

Two items of business relating to the $3 million facility are set to come before the supervisors Monday, with the first being a $5,060 change order for data wiring. In the initial planning of the building, running cables for computers and servers was set aside as a project for the county’s IT staff, Mayatt said. However, the IT staff are busy with the new Lauderdale County Government Center, and it is easier for all involved to have an electrician do it, he said.

The wiring work has already been completed, Mayatt said, and the board will be asked Monday to ratify and approve the expense.

Supervisors will also be asked to consider a $112,297.50 change order for approximately 9,800 square feet of additional concrete out at the new facility. Mayatt said the transition from a concrete slab to gravel at the entrance to the facility’s four vehicle bays presents a potential safety issue with gravel and other materials getting dragged into the shop. Extending the pad puts that transition further out and reduces the risk of loose rock causing issues inside the building.

Supervisor J.J. Anders encouraged Mayatt to make sure the new facility meets the road department’s needs now so that it will continue to be a useful space for years to come.