Abby Lane Causing Issues For Pickett Commissioners

Pickett County Officials trying to figure out options to deal with Abby Lane and a county plan that is now causing grief.

Consulting Attorney Evan Wright said the road is often used for access to the Dale Hollow Lake and a property owner has built a fence alongside the road making it hard to maneuver. Commissioner Tony Beaty said the county approved to adjust the road which benefited the property owner but has since backfired.

“I think we made a mistake by trying to accommodate her,” Beaty said. “We should have left everything alone. We should have stayed with the roadbed that we had and we should have just let her do what she wanted to do because I mean this has nothing been but a sour from the get-go.”

Beaty also said the property owner has been unreasonable and difficult to work with. Pickett County Executive Stephen Bilbrey said the county’s highway department has hired a surveyor to investigate the issue to see what the county could possibly do to address the problem.

“We thought we had it all worked out but apparently it’s still kind of in limbo so I guess we’ve got a little more work to do,” Bilbrey said. “I don’t know exactly what is going to be done but I know that the road department has hired a surveying company to go down there and survey that to make sure everything is where it needs to be and if not he will take appropriate measures from that point.”

The commissioners had some confusion about whether or not the road was a public access road or a county road. Wright said the road has all the makings of a public access road but has not been treated as such.

“I hope you pay me to tell you the truth so I am going to tell you the truth,” Wright said. “It was a public access road is what it was and that’s how it should have been approached from the beginning. Now I understand the urge of county officials to want to try to make things as accommodating as they can on the people that vote for them but at the end of the day if you read the county technical assistance service memo on the creation of public roads and county roads you will see what this road and what this access was is perfectly described as a public road.”

Wright said the county could file a condemnation suit in order to establish the road as a public access road however, it would go to court and the county would be required to pay damages. Bilbrey said the road has been accessible for over 100 years and likely the damages would not be too costly.

Beaty said the road is also listed as a 16-feet wide road but in reality, the road is not 16 feet wide and is much narrower. Beaty said addressing the situation has been tough as the county is trying to accommodate everyone.

“Not everybody is getting accommodated to their liking and that is what the problem is,” Beaty said.