Shin Point Road residents continue basic services fight

It’s inhumane to leave people stranded without these services.

A judge ruled 27 years ago that at that time the burden of proof that the road was a public road was not met. That ruling is not and was never meant to imply that the road was indefinitely a private road, and the county commissioner committee knows this yet continually uses it as an excuse saying their hands are tied.

The Shin Point community has gone before the committee countless times and even spoken on the agenda pleading for help. Our dilemma has fallen on cold, deaf ears. The Governor of Alabama has asked them to reconsider, offering a solution of applying for a grant that the governor suggested, that would provide $350,000 to not only Shin Point Road but also three other dirt roads in very similar situations as Shin Point.

The commissioner committee refused to fill out for the grant on our behalf. Congressman Aderholt also has reached out to the chairman James Hutcheson asking to extend Shin Point Road every consideration.

It has been made clear to us by both the Governor and congressman that the road commission committee has sole jurisdiction when it comes to accepting Shin Point Road into inventory. It is a public road by prescription according to the Alabama Supreme Court.

We hope that others reading this will also write our commission office on our behalf as well.

You can mail a letter to District Two Commissioner Rick Watson at:

21 1st Avenue West B

Grant, AL 35747

Or email a letter to: commission@marshallco.org

Also reach out to the other commissioner committee districts as it takes more than one member to pass a vote to accept Shin Point Road into the road inventory.

Stand up for your veterans, elderly, and disabled.

Signed,

Sue Vanderberg