Stone Man Road still being used as dump
With reoccurring problems of littering, drug trafficking and loitering, the Warren County Commission is trying to figure out what to do with Stone Man Road on Harrison Ferry Mountain.
However, closing the road, as some had hoped, is not an option, Highway Superintendent Harold Glenn told a joint meeting of the county’s Highway and Bridge, and Health and Welfare committees Monday. Glenn also told the committees that, although the seventh-tenths of a mile stretch of road is a county road, it is not the county’s responsibility to clean up.
The road in question, sometimes called Old Harrison Ferry Road, runs parallel to Highway 8 up Harrison Ferry Mountain. The road, which has not been improved by the county for 16 years, includes a trash collection center on land loaned to the county by Hubert Boyd.
“There’s a lot of drug activity up there,” said County Commissioner and Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Danice Taylor. “They throw their crank lab residue right off the road up there. It’s an environmental hazard.”
The question as to what to do with the road arose after a petition from 18 concerned citizens asked the county to close the road to stop the littering and drug trafficking. The road is isolated and seldom traveled.
Glenn indicated state auditors said the county could not close the road, but could instead list it as a category four road, meaning it would not be maintained by the county. Glenn noted the classification was given to the road since there are no residents who depend on it for their main access, there are no mail routes, and there are no school bus routes which use the road.
C.N. Womack told committee members lots are being sold on the road for possible development. He questioned whose responsibility it is to have the area cleaned up and patrolled. However, Commissioner Herb Wright pointed out the county should not be responsible.
“If someone throws trash in my yard, do I call the county to come clean it up?” Wright asked.
Commissioner Wayne Pryor said the area had been cleaned up in the past, but is now littered with trash, tires and large appliances.
“This is an ongoing problem,” Pryor said. “It’s been cleaned up before.”
Commissioner Gary Prater said while the county has no legal obligation to clean up the area, there should be some effort to restore the right-of-way off the road.
Recommendations from the meeting included using litter grant funds to restore the area and then request more patrols from the sheriff’s department in hopes of catching those who are dumping there. Levie Glenn of the highway department suggested speaking with members of the Harrison Ferry community and soliciting their help in catching and identifying persons who are illegally dumping.
In the end, the committees agreed to investigate using litter grant funds to clean up the area.