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Willingham family asks for water, paving and name‑change help; Grovetown resident urges traffic study after serious crash
Summary
During public comment, the Willingham family asked the county to research water access, road paving, and a road‑name change; a Grovetown resident asked the county to complete a traffic safety evaluation of a William Few Parkway median after a serious crash involving her daughter and reported 337 petition signatures.
Multiple residents used the public comment period at the July 7 Columbia County meeting to press for infrastructure fixes and traffic safety analysis.
Heather Willingham, speaking for the Willingham family, said the family’s land (purchased in 1945) lacks access to county water and asked whether the county could help extend water service or otherwise assist. She also asked staff why a road had been labeled Beehive Drive instead of Willingham Drive and recounted prior meetings and a petition to rename the roadway; staff said GIS had recommendations and that county code discourages duplicative road names.
A staff presenter reported the nearest 12‑inch water main lies along Mistletoe Road and the closest hydrant is roughly 350 feet from Beehive Drive; staff recommended follow‑up research and offered to coordinate with the family.
Morgan Evans of Grovetown asked the commissioners to commission a formal traffic engineering evaluation of the open median on William Few Parkway near Kroger Marketplace and McDonald’s. Evans said her 17‑year‑old daughter was the victim of a severe T‑boning crash that required extraction by firefighters and a three‑day hospitalization, and she said she had collected roughly 337 petition signatures asking for the review.
Traffic staff said they had already pulled three years of crash data, were developing concepts to reduce conflict (including restricting left‑outs from some businesses) and would share results with the public. Staff noted some concept changes have tradeoffs, such as rerouting drivers and potential new delays for certain local movements.
Why it matters: Residents raised practical infrastructure and safety concerns that could require engineering work, right‑of‑way assessment, and coordination with utilities. Staff committed to follow up on the water and road‑naming research and to continue the traffic analysis.
What comes next: Staff offered to meet with family representatives to research water, road‑name and paving feasibility, and traffic staff will continue the safety analysis and report back to the public.
