Fiscal Court’s tie vote denies developer waiver on widening subdivision street

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 — A request for Nelson Fiscal Court to reconsider a waiver of a street width requirement for an existing subdivision road failed to pass at Tuesday’s meeting when the magistrates had a tie vote.

The issue came up in 2017 when developer Tony Hagan reconfigured lots on Presley Drive in order to build a future access road to a possible new development area. Presley Drive was originally intended to be a short cul-de-sac, and as such, was allowed to be built with a 20-foot width.

County regulations require subdivision roads to be 22-feet wide unless the road is a short, dead-end road — as Presley Drive was originally intended to be.

But a proposed connector road — Bryson Drive — changed Presley Drive from a dead-end street to a connector road, which also changed the width requirement back to 22 feet. In 2017, Hagan’s request for a waiver of the width requirement for Presley Drive was denied by Nelson Fiscal Court.

Magistrate Gary Coulter argued that the county should  grant Hagan the waiver.

“We give concessions to lots of people,” he argued. “Why can’t we help contractors a little bit?”

Magistrate Jeff Lear argued against granting the waiver request.

“Nothing has changed since 2017,” he said. “You can’t just ignore the rules and make an exception.”

County engineer Brad Spalding explained why Presley was allowed to be built with a 20-foot width, and how its purpose had changed from a short dead-end road to being a possible collector road. That change triggered the requirement for the 22-foot width.

Magistrate Keith Metcalfe noted that widening the road would disrupt the front yards of residents living on the street.

Judge Executive Dean Watts noted that Hagan has had three years to widen the road but has has never done so. “The longer he waited, the worse that got,” Watts said.

Coulter made the motion to grant Hagan the waiver, seconded by Magistrate Keith Metcalfe. Magistrates Metcalfe, Coulter and Shelburne voted in favor of the waiver, while Magistrates Bernard Ice and Jeff Lear and Judge Executive Watts voted against the motion, creating a 3-3 tie vote.

In a tie vote, the motion failed.

Coulter then made a motion to have the county government pay to widen Presley drive to 22 feet. Magistrate Metcalfe seconded the motion. Magistrates Metcalfe and Coulter voted in favor of having the county pay to widen the road, and Magistrates Ice, Lear and Shelburne voted no. Judge Executive Watts also voted against the motion.

The motion failed in a 4-2 vote.

SEMI-TRUCK ENGINE. The court agreed to pay $18,215 to Cummins for a complete rebuild of a motor in the semi tractor the county  owns and uses to haul its heavy equipment around the county.

Purchasing a used truck to replace the existing one would cost between $40,000 to $50,000, Spalding told the court. He recommended rebuilding the engine of the truck they own because they know what they have with that truck.

“I feel comfortable rebuilding this engine and know we’ll have a good truck,” he said.

After some discussion the magistrates voted unanimously to approve the expenditure.

In other business, the court:

— approved a bid of $14,400 from Bill Brown Construction to do needed maintenance on the county-owned former state office building on West Stephen Foster Avenue.

— noted that the county garbage pickup routes will not run on Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25th or New Year’s Day, Jan. 1st. John Greenwell, the county’s solid waste coordinator, asked that residents get their garbage out early for Thursday pickup because the county will run the routes earlier. Friday’s garbage will be picked up on Saturday, he said.

— heard that county residents who see potholes should call the county road department to report them for repair, (502) 348-1880.

— reappointed Jim Nelson and Nolin Boone to the Joint City County Planning Commission;

— reappointed Austin Weller to the Joint City County Ethics Board;

— reappointed Todd Johnson and Richard Nest to the Design Review Board.

NEXT UP. The next Nelson Fiscal Court meeting is 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2020.

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