Area residents irate with their road conditions attended the Madison City Council Meeting last week to air their complaints to council members.

Resident Ruby Crede, was joined by several neighbors at the Feb. 2 evening meeting to testify to the substandard road conditions at Miller Hill’s housing subdivision.

In an housing development where homes can not be built less than 1800 square feet, homeowner Ruby Crede said she’s new to the area but doesn’t understand why she’s paying B&O taxes if the city of Madison will not repair or maintain her roads.

“We have a 911 address and street signs and lampposts. Why can’t the roads be cleared of snow and maintained?” she asked the assembled council members.

“The roads are in terrible condition and need blacktop. You don’t even want to drive your car down them because it’s tearing up our cars,” she complained.

“We just need some help getting our roads cleaned up,” Dewey Jerrell added, saying “We have definitely added to the economy of Madison.”

Besides snow removal and maintenance, residents also addressed concerns for proper and adequate drainage.

Council member and Mayor of Madison, Sonny Howell told the assembled homeowners that the city of Madison could not maintain the road as it was not deeded to the city.

“Who is responsible for the road if not the city,” Crede asked the council members.

“I have a map that shows my house is in the city limits of Madison and is in a subdivision,” said homeowner Steven Calloway.

“You can imagine what 20 trucks filled with gravel are doing to the roads,” he said, commenting that there are houses still being developed in the area and trucks delivering gravel to those sites.

Howell suggested to the audience that the council could possible stipulate that there are to be no more buildings built on the land sites until the city council has the situation under control.

That idea, however, was soon challenged by lot owners who had bought lots and whose family members were in the process of building homes.

The Madison city council did pass a motion that would restrict the issuance of any more permits to build at the subdivison.

“Most of the lots are already sold,” one homeowner pointed out to the council.

“We need to get Chip Shaffer on this; to take care of the people who are paying taxes,” Howell recommended to the city council members.

According to Howell, Chip Shaffer, of Shaffer and Shaffer Law Firm in Madison, consults for the Madison city council.

Homeowners continued issuing complaints about what they perceived to be unfair taxation on the part of the city.

“Why do we pay city property taxes? I paid $2300 B&O taxes for the city of Madison this past year,” one resident complained. “Also, a [city inspector] wanted to fine me because I was putting in a pool and didn’t have a permit.”

“We voted for you people. Help us,” the unidentified homeowner pleaded.

According to Howell, the problem at Miller Hill has escalated and he says the start of the problem goes back to the initial developer.

“No-one developed Miller Hill with streets and infrastructure and other requirements as they developed the houses,” he said.

According to Howell, the city has no right of way to maintain the streets in the subdivision and the developer should have deeded the property to the city.

“It is the property developer’s responsibility to do that,” he said, noting that although the road is listed as an old county road, the county has no responsibility, either, for those old highways and byways.

“That went to the state years ago,” he said.

“The ownership lies with the state and they haven’t shown any interest in doing anything with it. I wish they would,” a city council board member told the assembled homeowners.

Board member Kathy Hill inquired of the homeowners, “When you bought the property, did they say anything about the roads?”

Many in attendance shook their heads indicating that no, nothing was said to them prior to their purchase.

For more on this story, read next week’s Coal Valley News. Contact Joanie Newman at jnewman@coalvalleynews.com or call 304-369-1165.