WINDSOR – Calling some of the county’s private roads “public safety concerns”, Bertie County Commissioners listened to proposals and ideas at a special Work Session prior to their monthly meeting here April 4 regarding a possible county-wide ordinance that would include accountability by property owners if these roadways are not maintained.

The idea was first discussed by the Commissioners in September of 2015 when they requested Planning Board Director Traci White’s assistance in drafting a policy (similar to the language proposed in the county’s Manufactured Home Park Ordinance) to implement and enforce protocols for private roads in the county.

The Commissioners concurred that they would like to receive more information on this initiative, but they would also like to receive feedback from the County Attorney regarding the proposed inter-local agreement before making a final decision.

Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Huddleston is currently working on a draft copy of the ordinance and will guide the Commissioners through the language of the ordinance once it was crafted.

“You’re talking about reaching a patient to where the Paramedics can lay hands on them, every minute is precious,” said County Manager Scott Sauer. “We’ve really had some struggles in some of those areas.”

Also noted were Fire Apparatus Access Roads, defined as any road that provides fire apparatus (vehicles, primarily) access from a fire station to a facility, building or portion thereof, such as a fire lane, public street, private street, parking lot lane, and access roadway. This is according to the North Carolina Fire Code manual.

The state mandates that fire apparatus access roads shall be designed and maintained to support the load of fire apparatus and with a surface (paved or unpaved) to provide all-weather driving capabilities.

The Commissioners received a hand-out of about eight private roadways county-wide that would be considered substandard.

The Commissioners have postponed their second monthly meeting for April, slated for the Blue Jay Fire Department in the Indian Woods community, moving it to May 16 at the same location. Meanwhile, a draft proposal could be presented at the next regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners’ meeting in Windsor on May 2.

At the Work Session meeting there was also a brief discussion concerning abandoned motor vehicles, and it was concluded that the county should make every effort to enforce this ordinance across the board at all times.

County Nuisance Abatement Officer Barry Anderson also appeared before the Commissioners to remind them about volunteers participating in the state’s biannual trash clean-up drive, “Litter Sweep North Carolina”. That event, sponsored by the state Department of Transportation, will take place April 16-30.

Anyone seeking more information can call the Litter Sweep Hotline at: 1-800-331-5864.