COLUMBUS– Columbus Town Council is considering using Powell Bill funding to pave a few streets, including the end of Gary Street in the Holly Hills subdivision and the discussions have caused disagreements with neighbors. 

Columbus Town Council met Oct. 20 and continued the discussion regarding the paving. The town’s discussion in October was the third discussion regarding the street. Columbus discussed the paving during its Sept. 15 meeting and recessed that meeting until Sept. 21 to visit the site and continued the discussion.

Councilman Mark Phillips, who lives in Holly Hills, said in September he had a hard time understanding the problem at the end of Gary Street and he doesn’t see anything that is washing out. The Gary Street property fronts the home of Rodney McKaig.

McKaig attended council’s Oct. 20 meeting saying he is not asking the town to pave Gary Street, but to fix the erosion problem being caused by town water.

“I’m not asking the town to pave me a driveway like was brought up in the last meeting,” McKaig said.

McKaig said he will pay to have it paved or graveled, what he is asking is that the town fix the erosion problem

During the town’s Sept. 21 meeting, Joyce Burnette spoke against the town paving the end of Gary Street. She said McKaig created the problem by blocking access to carports and garages off Catherine Drive with patios and additional landscaping pavers, which caused him to use Gary Street to park his vehicles. Burnette said several other neighbors are against the paving as well to the benefit of one resident.

Phillips also said at the Sept. 21 meeting that he had been approached by four neighbors opposed to the paving. Phillips said in his opinion, paving the road will only cause more water runoff because there will be nothing to slow the water down.

During the Oct. 20 meeting, mayor Eric McIntyre said the town has discussed the paving in 2013, 2014 and now in 2016.

Councilman Josh Denton said he has some experience in construction, saying the town is going to have to start with a ditch to keep the water slow. He said if council decides to keep the section of the road gravel, it’s still going to cost money to keep it gravel. He said in his opinion, if the town is going to pave it, “pave it and be done with it and be done with the gravel.”

Other discussions on Oct. 20 were whether the town has an obligation to maintain the road because it is unknown if the road is open or not.

Council decided to research who actually owns the road and is responsible for it and to have an engineer come look at the erosion problem for an opinion.

The discussion was tabled until council’s November meeting, with McIntyre saying he wants a decision one way or the other at the next meeting. Council meets again on Nov. 17.

The town is considering paving the end of Gary Street at an estimated $4,668, Catherine Drive, estimated at $21,760 and Walker Street from Peniel Road to Paula Drive, estimated at $29,867. The town currently has $147,753 in its Powell Bill fund, which is an allocation from the state for annual road repairs.