Court agrees to extend Demsey Lane; sets county tax rates

By Amber Hobaugh

Staff Writer

Adair County Fiscal Court met in regular session Tuesday setting the county’s tax rates for the year. The Fiscal Court agreed to keep these rates the same as the previous year. Real property is set at 14.5%, personal property at 18.15%, watercraft and motor vehicles at 11.2% per $100.

The Fiscal Court discussed several matters having to do with roads in the county. A hearing date was set for September 29, 2020 to remove a portion of G.B. Bardin Road from the county’s maintenance in district 5. That hearing is set for 8:30a.m. in the basement of the Adair County Annex Building. 

Another hearing was also set for September 29, 2020 to remove Giles Road in District 3 from the county’s maintenance as well making it a privately maintained road. This hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. also in the basement of the Adair County Annex Building and will provide those affected by the decision to voice their concerns if they have any.

The court also voted to name Stanley Drive as a private passageway and to change the speed limit on Toria Road from 55mph to 35mph.

A continued topic of discussion was the county taking a portion of Demsey Lane into county maintenance.

Developers are creating gravel roads and listing them as a private drive, then selling the lots to people who build their homes there. Once the lots are sold, the developer moves on and the private drive is no longer being maintained. This has caused issues for the residents, specifically, in Oak Wood Circle as they are having issues with their addresses, receiving their mail and with 911 services.

Several of these residents were in attendance at the August 25th meeting as well as the one held this week to voice the above stated concerns. Many of them, trying to get the problem resolved for themselves but also to try to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future to others buying properties in other developments.

Magistrate Daryl Flatt made the motion to extend Demsey Lane for .252 miles with the condition that no other roads would be taken into the county’s care from this point further unless they meet the qualifications set forth by the fiscal court. A roll call vote was enacted with majority ruling and the motion passing. However, other magistrates mentioned this would be an issue in the future in their districts as well.

Under the recommendation of County Attorney Jennifer Hutchison-Corbin, a committee was formed to help lay out some guidelines to try to prevent this being a recurring problem for future residents of Adair County.

In other fiscal court news, a topic that was brought up at the previous meeting was the installation of overhead lighting around the walking track at the Jim Blair Center. The subject was tabled at that meeting due to a lack of information and whether having the lighting would affect some of the grants that are available to the center. After checking into several factors,  County Judge Gail Cowan stated at Tuesday’s meeting “I feel like this is a good project to do for the safety of our citizens.”

The lighting around the track would provide more security for those who wish to walk around the track in the late evening or at night and is just a safety precaution for the citizens who utilize the park. The motion was then unanimously passed.