Members of the Carter County Highway Committee who were looking into concerns from some residents of the Happy Valley community now find they must look into who actually owns the road — the city or the county.
During the committee’s February meeting, three men who live in the area of Happy Valley High School addressed the group with concerns about drivers speeding through their neighborhood and cars running off the road into residents’ yards.
One of the men, Phil Fritts, lives on Country Acres Drive and said when school is dismissed at the end of the day, his neighborhood sees a lot of traffic from the school. He said in order to avoid traffic driving toward Milligan, motorists are leaving the school grounds, turning right onto Slemp Lane, right onto Country Acres Drive and then right onto Warrior Lane before exiting onto Milligan Highway.
At that time, Commissioner Charles Von Cannon suggested that the committee member for that area, Bobbie Gouge-Dietz, get together with the citizens and Carter County Road Superintendent Roger Colbaugh and try to come up with a solution to the problem.
The residents requested that the county post signs on Slemp Lane prohibiting through traffic from the school from traveling through their neighborhood.
During the committee’s meeting on Monday, Gouge-Dietz told the group she parked her vehicle on Slemp Lane on two different days during the time when school is dismissed. On both days, Gouge-Dietz said she only saw a few cars passing through the neighborhood.
Highway Committee Chairman Mike Hill said he and Commissioner Ross Garland, who also serves the Happy Valley District, had gone door-to-door in the neighborhood and spoke with several residents. Many of those they spoke with, Hill said, did not believe the increase in traffic through the neighborhood was a major concern because it was only for a brief period of time.
Hill also reported he had spoken with Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford about the possibility of increased patrols and speed limit enforcement in the area.
“Sheriff Lunceford told me that the road (Slemp Lane) is in the city,” Hill said. “I called City Manager Jerome Kitchens’ office and he confirmed that Slemp Lane is in the city.”
VonCannon said the road was in fact a county roadway and he provided his fellow committee members with a copy of a map from the Tax Assessor’s Office which he said shows Slemp Lane is outside the city limits.
Committee members then asked Colbaugh if the road was located in the city or the county and he replied that it was on the county road list and the Carter County Highway Department maintained it.
VonCannon made a motion to put up a sign prohibiting left turns from Slemp Lane into the Happy Valley High School campus and also prohibiting right turns from the campus onto Slemp Lane during specific times of the day. His motion failed due to a lack of a second by a fellow committee member.
County Attorney Josh Hardin advised the group to research the issue of the road ownership before voting on any kind of recommendation regarding Slemp Lane.
Gouge-Dietz made a motion for the committee to ask Hardin to research ownership of the road as well legal options available for addressing the residents’ concerns. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Danny Ward and passed on a vote of 6-1, with VonCannon casting the only dissenting vote.