An age-old question of “what came first, the chicken or the egg” is being used to describe the complex situation facing the street no one will claim, also known as Omni Drive.
“It’s the chicken or the egg situation,” said Warren County Executive John Pelham. “Everyone knows there is a problem and something needs to be done, but no one can figure out what the answer is. I don’t know.”
The old saying was used during a Highway and Bridge Committee meeting Tuesday to try to explain the situation with Omni Drive and why there is no clear-cut solution.
Omni Drive, located near the hospital, is the street that runs in front of CHEER Mental Health. It is in poor condition.
Omni Drive was constructed by private developers, which explains why it is not on the official road list for either the city or county. Officials at both government agencies say, by law, they can only repair roads on their official list.
“I could sit down with Mayor Norman Rone,” said Pelham. “I’m sure he knows the situation. We could offer to help fund renovation, if the city would take it over once it was brought up to their standards.”
Funding street paving inside Warren County, but outside the city limits, is done through the county’s Highway Department under Road Superintendent Levie Glenn. Commissioner Gary Prater says the department is prohibited from fixing a street inside the city limits.
“If we did that, the money would have to come from administration funds,” Prater said to Pelham. “It can’t come from the Highway Department. It’s not a county road because it is not on our list. Levie can’t fix it.”
Glenn agreed with the assessment, saying he would undoubtedly get complaint calls from people questioning why he paved a street that didn’t belong to the county.
County tax records show the road belongs to three owners — WMD Group, which operates Middle Tennessee Radiology, Volunteer Behavioral Health Care, which operates CHEER, and the Warren County Ambulance Service.
When private developers build a road with the intention of it being adopted by either the city or county as a public street later, it is done to specifications depending on which government will be adopting the street.
Omni Drive was never adopted by city or county.
Pelham says if the county adopts the street, the Highway Department would then be allowed to use its funds for the street.
“I think if it were brought up to code, the city would adopt it,” Pelham said. “Maybe we could adopt it, fix it, and then give it to the city.”
Prater added, “If you adopt it, it’s your street. Maybe you should sit down with Mayor Rone or (Vice Mayor) Everett Brock and see if we can find a solution.”
No date has been set for that discussion.