Freetown Road residents upset with gravel road

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Some residents on Freetown Road are not pleased with the condition of their gravel road and believe the roadway is not being properly maintained.

About a half dozen of the residents voiced their concerns to the Warren County Board of Supervisors during their Monday morning work session, expressing a desire to have the road paved and in the meantime, have the gravel road maintained.

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“I pay taxes just like everyone else. When is it my turn?” asked Bob Gordon, who spoke on behalf of the group to the supervisors.

He and others said the ditches are not properly cleaned out or mowed.

Supervisor John Arnold, whose district includes the Freetown Road area, told the residents it costs approximately a million dollars to pave a mile of roadway. Freetown Road is about a mile and a half long.

“Where do you want us to get that money,” Arnold asked. He added that the county only gets 43-cents on the dollar in taxes with the remaining 57 cents going to the school district.

Gordon said that rather than repave other roads, the county should pave Freetown Road. He added that maintenance from the road grader is not being used properly with gravel piling up in ditches causing flooding and mosquito concerns from standing water.

Arnold and Board President Richard George said they would take their issues under advisement.

The group also expressed their opposition to the board’s proposal of relocating the county jail at the CERES Industrial Park, which has also drawn the disapproval of Vicksburg officials and Sheriff Martin Pace.

George updated the board on a discussion that took place recently with Mayor George Flaggs, members of the Port Commission, a formal search committee and the sheriff.  He said nothing had been decided from the meeting and other sites had been suggested, including property located behind the current jail facility in the city limits.

The Board of Supervisors will have their regular formal meeting Monday at 9 a.m. in the Warren County Court House.