Calling District 3 Supervisor Charles Moulds testimony “quite evasive, at times farcical and otherwise unreliable,” Special Chancellor David Clark ruled in favor of the Deerfield Estates plaintiffs and required two roads within the subdivision to be placed on the county road registry and county map as public roads.
The case, which began several years ago, pitted residents of the Deerfield Estates subdivision located just outside the Union city limits against the Newton County Board of Supervisors, who at various times went back and forth on whether the road was part of the county’s road registry. Ultimately, the determination of whether the two roads in the subdivision were public or private roads would determine which party would be responsible for not only maintenance of the roads but the repair of road damage that begin appearing early in the 2000s.
Clark, who was appointed to the case after Eighth District Chancery Judge Robert Logan recused himself from the case, ruled last week that Lakeview Drive and Deerfield Lane have been county roads since August 13, 2001, and that as such should be placed on the county registry. Throughout the trial, which Clark presided over last month, the supervisors’ attorney Jason Mangum contended that the roads were not county roads despite having been approved through a board vote initiated by then District 3 Supervisor Milton Smith. According to the defense, the adoption of the roads as public roads could not be completed until a series of steps had been taking which included the roads being placed on the county map and registry.
Moulds, who currently serves as District 3 supervisor and has served at various times over a 23-year period, testified in the trial that he did not believe the roads had been properly accepted by the county and that minutes from the August 2001 board of supervisors’ meeting could not be relied upon. Clark deemed that portion of Moulds testimony “farcical.”
It was the board’s action led by Moulds in 2015 that caused the homeowners to sue the county. In 2015 the issue came back before the board when homeowners in the subdivision of 13 households sought help for road repairs. At that time, Moulds told members of the homeowners’ association that the roads were not public roads because they were not on the road map or registry, therefore, as supervisor, he could not repair the roads.
Moulds also made a motion in the board of supervisors meeting on December 7, 2015, to not accept the two roads as county roads after the county engineer and two other supervisors went out to inspect the roads as required by law. At that time, it was estimated the roads needed repairs of about $100,000. The motion was unanimously approved.
Current District 1 Supervisor Kenneth Harris was serving on the board in 2001 and 2015 when both motions were placed before the board. During the trial Harris testified that he had voted for the acceptance of the roads and against the acceptance on the recommendation of Smith and Moulds respectively. Harris further testified that the estimated cost of repairs had nothing to do with his 2015 vote, and that it was his opinion that working on a road not on the registry despite an earlier acceptance in 2001 could put him in violation of state law. Clark in his ruling said Harris’s testimony was “quite evasive and unreliable.”
While Clark’s ruling requires the county to accept Lakeview Drive and Deerfield Lanes as roads Clark declined to order the county to repair the roads since the county has not refused to take action to repair or maintain the roads.
