Good Evening Chairman and Commissioners, 

I am before you, yet again, to advocate for the removal of the proposed turn lane onto the Old Natchez Trace from Sneed Road. The county highway commission recently approved widenings on Sneed which are being required due to the Rochford super-sized Stephens Valley subdivision.  

The turn lane onto the Old Natchez Trace is part of the road improvements package to deal with the storm surge of traffic Stephens Valley will be creating. I can only hope that there is truth to the saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” This proposed turn lane should never have been put on the Sneed Road improvements list. 

The Old Natchez Trace was built by order of President Thomas Jefferson. Its unique history should afford it some type of protection from this breach to its integrity. Williamson County should protect and preserve its valuable historic assets. The ONT should not fall victim to mega density development. 

And yet again, I am requesting that Citizens Comments be adopted as an agenda item on the monthly county planning commission’s agenda. The county highway commission is also an appointed board and it allows citizens to speak for a few minutes at the beginning of their meetings. 

What the planning commission does affects the daily lives of people who live in our county….and the growth they approve….much of which does not pay for itself….has caused an increase to our property taxes. We, the citizens, should be allowed the opportunity to address them, face to face, for a couple of minutes, each month. This type of communication of mutually beneficial. 

Government officials should encourage citizen participation in county affairs. One way to measure the health of a democracy is to measure the level of citizen participation. 

Thank you