Two Sunflower County property owners have petitioned for two roads to be closed.
Dirk Sykes, owner of Marshall Farm located in Drew, and R.L. Brand, a landowner in Ruleville, appeared before the Board of Supervisors to discuss possible road closures.
Sykes was seeking permission from the board to close down Turner Road and half of Radio Road, all the way up to North Sunflower Academy.
He expressed that the farm that he owns is looking to make improvements and he wanted to speak to the board before he followed through with his plans.
According to Sykes, there were once 56 houses that existed near this road. Now, only two houses are left standing and he is the owner of both.
He says no garbage trucks run on the road; neither are there any school buses that travel along it either.
He went on to say that there are no people living on the road.
Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams suggested that he bring back an up-to-date petition signed by all the owners of land around the road.
He also said in an event like this, a public hearing would definitely need to be held.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to look and see who the land owners are and who else might be affected,” McWilliams explained.
He assured Sykes that he will not know the exact date of the hearing until he fully looks into the landowners and others who may be affected.
Brand also appeared before the Board of Supervisors to discuss a possible closure of Brand Road in Ruleville.
Brand stated that he was told about four or five months ago to provide a letter from all four farm owners near that road who agreed to have it closed down.
He says that although he provided the letter, he had not received a response since then.
McWilliams explained to Brand that upon his research, he found out that not everyone who owned property near that road had signed the petition.
According to McWilliams, one signature turned out not to be the owner of one of the farms.
The land is actually owned by a limited liability company, he explained.
The owner of the company is against the closure of the road; his reasoning being that it would leave him landlocked.
Brand explained that the person who provided the signature is the nephew of the owner, who told him that he was given permission to sign on the owner’s behalf.
McWilliams made it clear that he would not recommend the board to landlock anyone.
He suggested the same idea to Brand as he did to Sykes.
Brand was urged to speak with the owner of the farm and try to come to an agreement and get an up-to-date petition form signed to return the board.
No motion was needed for these matters.
