Residents Show Opposition to Road Name Change

Several months ago, Douglas County firefighters received a call about a house fire on High Point Road, which is in the very northwestern part of the county. 

The house is technically in Paulding County, but Douglas responders were headed there to offer mutual aid, Fire-EMS Chief Scott Spencer said.

The road is split into two parts by a 1.4-mile gap, with both parts carrying the same name. Responders initially ended up on the eastern road, while the fire was on the western part. So they had to turn around and take other roads to get to the fire, adding about 10 minutes to the response time.

“The confusion occurred when the resident called in and wasn’t quite sure” which part the house was on, Spencer told the Board of Commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting.

Spencer’s explanation was part of a public hearing that proposed changing the name of the eastern section so emergency responders could more easily differentiate between the two sides. The board eventually decided to table the proposition but not before a 20-plus minute discussion that became briefly heated.

The change would have affected the addresses of about 13 residents, some of which attended the hearing to voice their opposition.

The first person to approach the microphone was Linda Northcutt, who actually lives in Paulding County but off the east part of High Point Road, which is considered a Douglas County street. Her address, though, says she lives off Jack Meadows Road, which is what Paulding County calls High Point Road.

“I’ve had several occasions to call 911,” she said. “They’ve never had a problem getting to us. “

When Northcutt was done speaking, Geographic Information Systems Manager Andy Summers touched on the name difference from the two counties: “We have an interesting situation where Paulding County actually recognizes that road as Jack Meadows Road, and Douglas County is recognizing this road as High Point Road.”

Later in the meeting, Spencer suggested the Jack Meadows name might stem from a “mass readdressing” about 6 or 7 years ago for Paulding’s new 911 system.

“I think what we’re going to see is the path of least resistance is that Douglas County consider deeming our side of High Point Road as Jack Meadows Road,” Summers said.

One resident in the audience quickly voiced opposition by saying: “That’s your opinion.”

The next resident to approach the microphone was Charles Wood. His first point was about the difference in the road's name between Douglas and Paulding.

“For some reason, Douglas County has never stepped up and objected to that being named two different roads,” he said.

Wood, who lives on the eastern section of the road, said he wouldn’t be opposed to “West” being added to the western section of the road.

“If you want to name the other section West High Point Road, hey that would eliminate the problem,” he said. “All they’d have to do is put a W in front of their mailing address.”

Wood’s cousin, James, next approached the microphone and offered similar objections.

Next was Richard Walker, who noted the work involved in getting things squared away with different agencies when getting a new address.

“This involves a lot of work to change a road that’s been there for 80, 90 or 100 years,” he said. “I’m very upset to even consider this.”

Commission Chairman Tom Worthan asked Spencer if the western part of the road could simply carry the word West in front of the road name.

“It would certainly help us,” Spencer said, adding that there are more residents on the west end, hence more people would be affected by the road name change.

Summers noted how further confusion could be caused, as the county already has a North, South, East and West High Point Drive.

As Commissioner Kelly Robinson was asking if there are possible solutions besides renaming the road, one audience member said: “Yes sir, there is. I can answer that.”

“Excuse me, please. We’ve already had the public hearing,” Worthan said.

“OK, I see, you can bring up other questions but we’re not allowed to respond, is that what it is?” the audience member asked. “There is a simpler solution, and it’s all within 911.”

“We’re going to try to work that simple solution out, sir,” Worthan said.

Spencer said addresses on the road have been flagged by emergency responders to show which part of the road they’re on. 

“If we can sufficiently provide fire and EMS service to this High Point Road section without changing this name, we shouldn’t even be having a public hearing,” Worthan said.

Spencer explained that the flagging depends on technology to work.

Agreeing that there wasn’t a need to take any immediate action on the road change, the board voted to table the issue.

County Attorney Ken Bernard noted that if there was another public hearing that could involve the western section of the road, an advertisement would have to be put out informing its residents.

Also on Tuesday, the board:

• Approved the application for federal grant money of up to $300,000 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
• Approved the acceptance of a $26,374 state grant from the Judicial Council of Georgia.
• Approved a lease agreement with Georgia Power for outdoor lighting at the new county jail for $138 a month. The lease is attached to this article.
• Approved a pole permit for a security camera from Georgia Power at the new jail.
• Adopted the 2011 Douglas County/Douglasville Hazard Mitigation Plan.
• Declared the week of May 8-14 as National Women’s Health week and the week of May 23-30 as Poppy Week in the county.
• Declared May as National Stroke Awareness month, Asthma Awareness month, and Older Americans month in the county.