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Residents press commissioners for lights, sidewalks and repairs at Friendship Park and nearby streets
Summary
Multiple residents urged Gadsden County commissioners to finish promised streetlights and sidewalks, replace temporary speed bumps, repair Friendship Park restrooms and address a boarded, uninhabitable house cited as a code-enforcement concern.
During the public-comment period at a Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners meeting, several residents from the Friendship neighborhood and surrounding areas pressed the commission for repairs and safety improvements.
Pastor Willie Gaines said sidewalks the county installed on one street helped homeowners but that promised solar streetlights were never installed. "We were also promised street lights...that never happened," he said, and asked the board to support a countywide trash roundup.
Jessica Rivas, a Friendship neighborhood resident, told commissioners it is "extremely dark at night" along sidewalks that were not accompanied by promised lighting and asked for permanent speed-control measures on Frank Jackson Road. "There’s people walking up and down the streets all the time. It’s a hazard," Rivas said.
Michael Brown, another longtime Friendship resident, asked the board for a timetable for park repairs. He said recent work left only a new drinking fountain, while pavilions and restrooms remain in poor condition. "In two years...all I got is a water fountain," Brown told the commission.
Resident Sean Donaldson, who said he spends time at the park, said the facility lacks usable bathrooms and programs that give local children alternatives to the street. "We gotta bring something to Friendship Park," he said.
Citizens also raised a code-enforcement issue: Rivas described a boarded, uninhabitable house across from her home that she said attracts rodents and should be inspected. County staff replied that code enforcement had visited and that the county administrator would follow up.
Commissioners and staff responded that a countywide parks committee exists and that officials will schedule a committee meeting to review park projects and timelines. The board asked staff to publish a schedule showing the order and timing for planned park work so communities can track progress.
Several commissioners thanked residents and said county staff would coordinate follow-up meetings. The board did not adopt a new policy at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to schedule the parks committee meeting and to follow up with code and parks departments.
