ALDERMEN POSTPONE TALKS ON OAK HILL ROAD CONTROVERSY

JACKSON -- Oak Hill Road residents were promised that an August question-and-answer session about their road project would be final, but it wasn't.

They went back Sept. 11 to ask more about the project that involves paving of their gravel road. Now residents say at least two questions, and perhaps more, remain unanswered.

At first, debate raged about who should pay for the paving. The Jackson Board of Aldermen agreed to pay half the cost and bill property owners for the rest. The property owners agreed to that plan, but balked when tax bill estimates were considerably more than amounts first discussed.

The August session started out heated. One person in the audience was ejected for inappropriate behavior. At the end, it seemed a few of the cost questions were answered.

Later, some property owners received an Aug. 23 letter from the city attorney, David Beeson. It was to answer two remaining questions: Would the city remove from the final bills cost of moving a water line and, or cost of a culvert at Bainbridge and Oak Hill?

The letter said the mayor and aldermen wouldn't decide until the project was completed but before special assessments were levied. It directed property owners to call public works director Tom Morris with any questions.

The letter said, "As with any project there have been, and will continue to be, inconveniences during the construction period, however, the project manager indicates that the contractor is moving along rapidly with the project."

Ruth Powers, an Oak Hill Road property owner who received a letter, said there have been plenty of inconveniences, but they aren't the major issue. She said telephone, water and gas lines have been tampered with unnecessarily.

"We never really seem to get a straight answer when we ask why they're doing the project this way," Powers said. "It's like they're saying: `When we're ready to tell you how much it is, we'll send you a bill. Now stay out of the way.'"

City Administrator Steve Wilson said the problem is merely a misunderstanding of how engineering works. Bowen & Lawson Engineering was hired to do the plans, and its past projects have turned out fine, he said.

"The water line had to be moved from where it presently is to get it out from under the pavement and the road had to be lowered to standard street specifications," Wilson said. "I understand the concern, but we trust Bowen & Lawson to do the engineering."

PR Developers Inc. is doing the road construction, which is progressing.