County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. What is happening with Wal-Mart?
A. Today is Thursday, Feb 21st and I and the Wal-Mart attorneys are working feverishly trying to get all the paperwork prepared and approved and sent to Arkansas for the company pre-closing.  It involves a lot of documents for not only the county to sign but some of the adjacent property owners. Hopefully everything will be approved at Wal-Mart’s home office today or Friday and the closing with the local property owners and the escrow closing with the county will take effect either Monday or at the latest Friday, Feb. 29th.

Q. Why is the county involved with the Wal-Mart closing?
A. I have negotiated with Wal-Mart over the past several months regarding many conditions related to the county.  The county has agreed to accept the road that will be built by Wal-Mart accessing their property.  I have also worked with adjacent property owners so that they would also have access to the new county road.

In addition, the extension of the water and sewer line has been a coordinated effort by the county, city and Wal-Mart.  The remaining details are being finalized as we speak.  I will have the final agreements to present at the county meeting tonight. This involves the financial arrangements between Wal-Mart and Union County regarding the payments for utility improvements.

By the time you read this newspaper on Tuesday or Wednesday, Wal-Mart should finally be a done deal!!!!!!!  I will provide the final details of any agreements to the public in the following issue of the newspaper. 

Q. We had a new street sign made for our street and 911 told us we could not use it on our driveway.  Why is that?
A.  A couple of weeks ago in Suches, a lady was passing by on Hwy 60 and saw a brush fire.  She had no idea where she was and told 911 the name on a nearby green road sign.  It turns out that it was not a county installed sign, but one that a homeowner had improperly placed on their personal driveway.

In the meantime, 911 could not identify the road name since it was not on any county records, so they immediately called both Gilmer and Fannin Counties trying to locate the road name and no one had heard of it.  They eventually found the fire, but the delay could have been serious had it been an accident or heart attack.

Q.  Is it legal for private citizens to put their own private street signs up?
A. No, it is not legal, and the confusion that can be caused from one of these signs is apparent in the previous question.  No citizen or home owner is allowed to place any type of street sign up that can be confused with a county sign either blue or green.  To be sure you are in compliance with the regulations, you should seek approval from the road department before installing any type of similar sign. The only goal of these regulations is to protect your own safety and that of the general public when public safety vehicles are involved.

Q. What is required to be able to have a sign on a road? 
A. Whether it is a private or county road, there must be at least two residences on the road before it can have its own name.  These are not only county guidelines but the minimum suggested by the Postal Service.

Q. What is the latest on our new address system?
A.  Well, it is still in the process.  It is taking much, much longer than anyone ever anticipated with the process of coordinating everything with the Post Office.  It is not anyone’s fault, it is just very complicated and important that when we make the change it be done with the least amount of mistakes. The 911 mapping office and the Post Office continue to work together to facilitate the completion of the project.  It is possible that this project will not be completed prior to the end of the year.

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