Landowners impacted by the possible closure of Willie Chandler Road gave their thoughts on the measure Monday as the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing to address the issue.

Willie Chandler Road is a small dead-end street off of Minnow Bucket Road in northern Lauderdale County. A portion of the road is currently closed after a failed bridge inspection required the county to halt traffic over a timber bridge near the end of the road.

Amanda Barnes, a resident of Winter Springs, Florida, who owns a home at the end of the road, said the property has been in her family for generations and is still used today. While the home is not occupied full time, she said she uses it when she comes to Meridian, as does her aunt, uncle and various other relatives.

The granddaughter of Willie Chandler Jr., Barnes said the bridge closure has already caused trouble with the postal carrier and propane gas company refusing to drive across it to reach the house. She said she wanted the county to repair the bridge and road to allow continued access to her property for both herself and her family.

Bo Burns, who owns much of the property past the bridge and was the person to petition the county to close the road from the bridge on, said he used his property primarily as a mixture of hunting land and a timber investment. He said he was concerned about people using his property for unauthorized activities and wanted the county to close the road so he can have more control over who can access his land.

Although he owns the land surrounding her parcel, Burns said Barnes need not worry about losing access to her property if the road is removed from the county’s inventory as a deeded easement is already in place.

“It seems like every time I’m there, there’s new tracks down into my property,” he said. “I just kind of think a road closure would at least give me a reason to tell people that they can’t be down there unless it’s me or her or her family.”

Road Manager Rush Mayatt said the bridge on Willie Chandler Road was closed after an inspection by the Federal Highway Administration. Currently, he said, neither Barnes nor Burns technically have access to their property, as they should not be crossing the closed bridge. That lack of access will remain until the county closes the segment of road or replaces the bridge.

“The bridge has to be replaced,” he said. “It will not be reopened or repaired.”

As for replacing the bridge, Mayatt said he cannot justify the roughly $500,000 cost for access to two properties where no one lives.

“It does not make sense to me to replace a structure such as that that leads to basically about 10 more feet of road where somebody is not living,” he said. “That is not a wise or good economical decision for Lauderdale County at all.”

Part of the issue, Mayatt said, is that the county is held to a high standard for bridge conditions. While the county will not be allowed to reopen the road until the bridge is replaced, a private road would not have that problem. Should the road be abandoned, he said, there are some inexpensive fixes the two landowners could do to keep the bridge in useable condition.

Supervisor Josh Todd said he agreed with comments from both Barnes and Burns. As a taxpayer, he said, Barnes is absolutely right that she should have unrestricted access to her own property. Burns is also right, he said, that a rural, dead-end road attracts unwanted activities.

Despite his agreement with the property owners, Todd said he can not vote to replace the bridge when other bridges in the county that see much higher traffic have been closed for several years.

Right now, Todd said, the two landowners are playing with fire continuing to cross the closed bridge. If an inspector sees the barricades have been moved, the county will be required to take additional means to limit access. That could be anything from piles of dirt blocking the road to concrete or even steel barricades, he said.

“If they come back and see that you have moved the barricades, they will make Rush go out there, if they have to, and pour concrete dividers where there is no moving them, there is no more access period,” he said.

With an easement in place and Burns’ agreement to keep the road in passable condition, Todd said it may be in both landowners’ best interest to take the road private and reach an agreement between themselves. If the road remains on the county’s inventory, and another inspector comes around, both Barnes and Burns could lose the limited access they already have.

Supervisors agreed to take Monday’s discussion under advisement as they weigh whether or not to grant the petition to close the segment of road. The board is expected to vote on the issue at a later date.