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Residents urge action after festival traffic routed through Sargo neighborhood; one commenter pitches industry recruitment
Summary
Multiple Sargo residents told Daviess County Fiscal Court that festival traffic has been routed through Brookwood Drive and nearby streets, posing safety risks; residents presented a petition and asked the court to require routing to Highway 56, install signage and barriers. A separate commenter urged officials to pursue large-scale industrial investment.
Residents of a Sargo subdivision told the Daviess County Fiscal Court on Thursday that event traffic from a nearby venue has repeatedly been routed through a small residential neighborhood, creating safety hazards for children and impeding emergency access.
"Our neighborhood currently has signage at the entry of Brookwood that says 'no outlet.' However, the cottage ... continues to intentionally route event traffic through our residential neighborhood," said James Arlo Jr., who identified himself and presented a petition signed by a majority of neighborhood households. Arlo said the event venue had been told to route traffic to Highway 56 in a June 1 letter from planning and zoning but continued to use neighborhood streets during events, including a recent Strawberry Festival he said attracted thousands.
Kevin Hardy, another resident, said heavy volumes made it difficult to enter and exit the neighborhood during event egress and expressed concern about emergency-vehicle access. "It's almost impossible about 3 or 4:00 in the afternoon when they start coming out of there," Hardy said.
Relief requested: residents asked the court to require event traffic enter and exit via Highway 56 and Highway 279, install 'no through traffic' signage, and consider a guardrail or barrier at the end of Brookwood Drive to prevent event traffic from using the gate there. Arlo said he delivered a petition signed by "50 over 53" residents asking the court to address the practice.
Officials' response: Judge Executive Charlie Cassen said he would "certainly have the staff look into this and see what action we might take." County counsel and others noted that the Sheriff's Office had been contacted and that the planning and zoning conditional-use agreement includes traffic routing requirements; the court did not adopt any immediate enforcement action during the meeting.
Separate public comment: Cliff Carlock spoke in favor of proactively recruiting large private investment, urging local officials to contact federal representatives and private companies, including SpaceX/Elon Musk, to attract factories or data centers. His suggestion was noted but the court took no action during the session.
What happens next: court staff said they will investigate the residents' petition and routing concerns; no formal remedy or enforcement action was recorded in the meeting minutes provided to the court during the session.
