April 25, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

I attended the April 25, 2023 Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Gohagan and Skelton were present.

The meeting was held in the conference room of the Commission Building.

The first agenda item was Louise Webb – That There Road.

(Before we even start, I just want to avoid any confusion. As if Louise Webb’s problem with her road couldn’t be made even more confusing, Google calls the road in question “That There Drive” while Camden County GIS calls it “That There Road.” In this article, I call if “That There Drive” for clarity.)

Louise Webb spoke before the Commission to explain a problem she has endured for over 5 years regarding her residential address. She has lived in her home on That There Drive (a private road) since 1997. Originally, That There Drive ran from Old Morgan Road to her home. The only other homeowners nearby lived off That There Drive on Lillie Dale Drive.

In approximately 2006, Webb gave Camden County permission to build Cedar Grove Lane across her property to connect with other homes in the area. When the county built this road, the culverts from the new road diverted water from one side of the road and wiped out a large portion of That There Drive. The county refused to repair That There Drive, so Webb paid out of her pocket to build a road to connect That There Drive to the new county road. (What a nice reward for letting the county build on your land. Sheesh!)

When Webb contacted Camden County E911 to make sure she could still get emergency services to her house, E911 changed the entry portion of That There Drive off of Old Morgan Road to Lillie Dale Drive. Since Google maps and other online mapping services still showed the old road names, the fact that the local street signs did not match the online mapping made it extremely difficult for anyone to find the residences in the neighborhood.

Webb had obtained signatures from her neighbors requesting that the road from Old Morgan Road to where Cedar Grove Ln turn south be changed to That There Drive. Webb’s proposed road name change would only affect three residences. She had provided the signed petition five years ago to Greg Hasty when he was presiding commissioner. She never heard anything back from him.

Webb was told by E911 that the neighborhood could not have both a That There Road and a That There Drive in the same neighborhood because it would be too confusing for emergency responders. She pointed out that the neighborhood already had a Cedar Grove Lane and a Cedar Grove Court. Nobody seemed to be confused by that.

Webb said that Commissioner Williams came to talk to her at her house after she submitted the petition. He told her that Commissioner Hasty did not want to change the road name and Williams started talking to her about “all sorts of deals he had made with gravel.” (You can bet this raised a few eyebrows in the room.)

Commissioner Williams told Webb that since she had never actually signed over her land for the county to put the road in, they would draw up a contract and once she signed it, they [the county] would do what she wanted. KY3 News then came out to do a story about the road issue and according to Webb, Commissioner Hasty was angry about the news story and that was the end of the deal.

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Camden-County-resident-upset-with-county-over-road-name-issues-with-GPS-systems-513112621.html

At this meeting, E911 representatives explained that Webb’s number address was changed because the distance required for emergency vehicles to drive to reach her residence had changed when part of her road washed out. E911 GIS assigns 1,000 address numbers per mile. Addresses are supposed to coincide with the distance from the start of the named road to make it easier for emergency responders to find the address using their odometers. So if you are half a mile from the start of your road, your address number should be around 500. They clarified that it has nothing to do with mail service.

Webb pointed out that if this was the case, then her original address was also incorrect since she was much further in distance down from Old Morgan Road than her original address number would indicate.

As a result of all of this confusion, Webb has had to have two voter registration cards for the different addresses and has difficulty receiving mail and packages.

After all of the trouble, she really wanted to keep her existing address number.

Commissioner Gohagan explained that if Webb completed a Addressing Liability Waiver, she could keep her current address number. Signing this waiver would allow Webb to use an address that is inconsistent with her road distance. She immediately agreed to sign it. The E911 representatives cautioned that having an inconsistent address could potentially delay their arrival at her home in an emergency. Webb was the first resident in Camden County to ever sign the waiver.

The Commission made an attempt to call the three neighbors who would be impacted by the change, but they were only able to reach one of them by telephone.

Commissioner Gohagan made a motion to change the road name and keep Webb’s address the same contingent on approval of the three neighbors. This was approved unanimously. Louise Webb looked very happy.

In Old Business, the commissioners discussed amending the Uniform Land Use Code (ULUC) to add sections that would provide consequences for violators who refuse to comply with the code. Commissioner Skelton explained that the recent violations by One Source in Linn Creek have shown that the current ULUC has no effective tools to punish violators of the zoning policy.

Commissioner Gohagan said the current violation penalty is a $1,000 fine. The amended code will have different levels of severity that can be implemented against offenders who intentionally and/or consistently defy the ULUC.

And that was that.

I looked up the old KY3 story on Louise Webb’s road problem.

Her problem that had dragged on for over five years was resolved in a single 45 minute meeting of our current commission.

Five years ago, when Presiding Commissioner Hasty was asked about Louise Webb’s road issue by KY3, he helpfully responded, “If people are lost, they can call my number and I’ll point them to Jesus.”

I guess it turns out that all people really had to do was vote in commissioners who care about finding solutions for their constituents.

I’ m pretty sure Jesus has more important things to do.