I believe it is important the public knows the following:

As the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on April 7, the subject of whether a landowner along a public road must bring a petition to the board before removing “trees and plants” from the strip of land called right-of-way was brought up. The board attorney stated this was up to the “board’s discretion” and “residents can work (sic) within the county’s right-of-way as long as they don’t change the route of the road or damage the road in any way.”

Here are some facts:

1. Individuals have been operating bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment at will, upon the easement-bound right-of-way of Dunbar Road in Elgin Subdivision, and taking trees and soil without any prior communication with the road manager, district supervisor or county engineer and without any warning to neighbors who certainly would obtain a temporary restraining order or injunction to stop such destructive and unsupervised operations.

2. The board has refused to take any action. In the subject board meeting, the board president incredibly referred to these operations as “residents cutting grass and removing leaves,” and the district supervisor said, “The landowner didn’t harm the right-of-way in any way.”

3. The Supreme Court of Mississippi established in 1935 that timber, soil, etc., on public road right-of-ways belong strictly to the body politic (people of the county, and not to individual landowners). 1972 Mississippi Code Statutes 65-7-1, 5, 57, 115 establish that what is occurring is entirely illegal and that before any individual “works on a public road right-of-way,” he must present a petition before the board.

4. Section 95 of the State of Mississippi Constitution establishes that timber, soil, etc. cannot be “donated directly or indirectly” to any individual by the Board of Supervisors.

In summary, I believe the public has been shamefully misled by the board and its attorney to believe that nothing of significance is happening, and that laws are not being broken.

Finally, I charge that there is serious risk of injury to motorists if these illegal operations continue. In such an event, the taxpayers of Adams County would be liable because the board is their paid agent. Deed covenants and county easements are being violated, public assets being destroyed and stolen, and taxpayers subjected to danger and liability for damages.

I have offered to debate the board attorney on these issues, but the offer has been ignored.

 

Lynn Wirtz, Natchez