Residents urge court to keep Edmondson Road open; neighbor seeks closure citing dumping and trespass

Residents and neighbors spoke at length to the Spencer County Fiscal Court on July 21 about a possible discontinuance of Edmondson Road.

At the meeting the Judge called Ms. Sue Edmondson to speak. She said the road "had been there for 150 years" and that it was the only way to access family property. Several Edmondson family members and neighbors described past maintenance work and said the property was effectively landlocked without the road. "It was the only access to that farm," Debbie Edmondson said, explaining why the family opposed closure.

Opponents of keeping the road open also spoke. A neighbor identified as Mr. Barnett presented photographs he said showed vandalism, trash dumping and stolen cars dumped along the route. He said the road was primarily used for illicit activities and suggested converting the route to a private easement and asked that any magistrates with personal relationships to involved parties recuse themselves from future decisions.

Magistrates and the County Attorney discussed the statutory discontinuance process and the court agreed to engage two disinterested parties to survey the property and report findings to the Fiscal Court. Magistrate Stump said the court was focused on ensuring affected parties retained access if the road were dissolved, and Judge Travis described the next procedural steps.

No final decision was made at the meeting. The court instructed the two identified disinterested surveyors to prepare findings and return them for consideration at a subsequent meeting.