A proposal to pave part of the road leading to Welch’s Point sparked debate among White County Commissioners this week.
White County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said Welch’s Point Road is a county road, but not fully paved. He added that the state is willing to pave the two miles closest to Welch’s Point, while asking the county to cover the remaining 2.4 miles. Commissioner T.K. Austin said he supports exploring the project only if it can be completed without using the county’s general funds.
“If it’s gonna come out of the county budget to do it, I don’t see doing it,” Austin said. “But I mean, if we can come up with tourism money to do it and get something out of the state on it, I mean, I think it’s worth looking into.”
White County Road Superintendent Jerry Swayer said it would cost an estimated $300,000 just to pave the remaining over two miles on Welch’s Point Road. Commissioner Chris Brewington said he was against pursuing the project, stating that the county has bigger fish to fry.
“Me personally, I’m a hard no,” Brewington said. “I just feel like we got on Coal Bank (Road), we’ve got several houses on it that we get better revenue off of it than we do here. And I know that’s a long-term revenue, but I just feel like we got nicer houses on Coal Bank that should be paved before we pave something like this.”
The commission questioned how much funding the state would contribute to help cover the cost. Sawyer said the state should just pave the entire unpaved portion.
“If they got the funding to match us for the other two miles, why don’t they just pave our four miles and then come up with the money to do their other Welch’s Point Road,” Sawyer said. “They’ve already got the funding locked in for four miles, just go ahead and pave it.”
Robinson said that paving the portion of the road would be a long-term investment. Scott’s Gulf Park Ranger Stuart Caroll said paving the road could open up tourism to Welch’s Point. The commission plans to gauge the state’s level of commitment and explore tourism grant opportunities before making any decisions.