October 2, 2023, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

The Gadfly attended the October 2, 2023, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.

All commissioners were present. County Attorney Green was not present for this meeting and the absence of his legal advice was definitely felt during the proceedings.

This meeting was on a Monday because it was was the quarterly road petition meeting. Road petitions are requests by property owners asking for the county to stop maintaining (or “vacate”) a road. It usually requires a legal property description and signatures from all of the other property owners who border the road or require the road for access to their properties.

The first road petition was Sioux Court Cul-de-Sac at Kay’s Point in the Horseshoe Bend Special Road District. There was nobody present for or against the petition.

It was approved unanimously.

The second road petition was Lamplighter Drive.

This petition was initially approved by the Commission, but that approval was later rescinded and tabled when Presiding Commissioner Skelton realized that County Attorney Green had made a note that a signature was still required from the Grantham Trust before the petition should be approved.

There was a couple present who had submitted the petition. They explained that they had been unable to get a signature from the Granthams who were elderly and possibly in a nursing home. The road on the maps is an old trail that was never made into an actual roadway.

The Commission tabled this petition until the signature could be added to the petition.

The third petition was Jean Road of Horseshoe Bend #7.

The petitioner was present and nobody was present to oppose the petition.

This petition was approved unanimously.

The fourth petition was Dolly Baker Subdivision.

This petition was missing a signature from a property that could possibly be landlocked by the vacation of the road. The petitioner was present and she told the Commission she had sent the property owner a letter with no response back. Commissioner Williams questioned whether the Commission could approve land locking a property even with the approval of the owner.

This petition was tabled.

The fifth petition was Noland’s Broadview Heights.

The petition was present and nobody was there to oppose it.

The Commission approved the petition unanimously.

The final petition was for Mimosa Road.

(Great name for a road and I’m sorry to see her dropped off the books.)

Nobody was present for or against the petition.

It was approved unanimously by the Commission.

The final agenda item was County Enterprise Contract.

The Commission unanimously approved using Enterprise to lease and maintain Camden County’s vehicles.

Enterprise planned to meet with the Sheriff’s Office and Road and Bridge after the meeting to discuss the needs of those departments and how long it would take to receive the requested vehicles.

According to the Enterprise representative, Camden County won’t pay for vehicles until they are received. Enterprise offers a variety of maintenance programs that can be customized to fit the needs of different departments. Captain Bailey from the Sheriff’s Office mentioned that they will need to replace approximately 24 vehicles over the next few years.

The County Auditor advised that there isn’t much money left in the 2023 budget so most of the vehicle leasing will have to be included in the 2024 budget.

And that was that.