At the Pike County Commission’s first meeting of 2014, the commission accepted a donation for the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority (CPYRWMA) for $9,000.

The money was provided the assist the Pike County Road Department with a slop repair project on County Road 6631 to prevent serious erosion problems on the roadway.

A tributary to Connors Creek on CR 6631 had been causing severe erosion to the roadway ditch and front slope of the land directly adjacent to the roadway. This erosion affected the integrity and safety of the road and contributed to pollution in the tributary from sedimentation from the roadway.

The Pike County Road Department rebuilt the roadway front slope after clearing and placing an underdrain in the area. The project resulted in water quality improvement, safety to the traveling public, and lower maintenance costs to the county on this section of the road.

“We appreciate the opportunity to have participated in this important and beneficial project with the Pike County Commission, and we commend the Pike County Road Department for their efforts in addressing this serious erosion issue on CR 6631,” said Barbara Gibson, executive director of the CPYRWMA.

Pike County Engineer Russell Oliver said his department was thrilled to receive the donation. “We greatly appreciate the donation,” Oliver said. “The money allowed us to fix a problem area on one of our county roads in a timely and efficient manner. Because of the donation and the work we were able to do, the cost for maintaining the road in the future will be less.”

Oliver also brought the recent uptick in vandalism against the county’s road signs to the attention of the commission. “We’ve had problems with people vandalizing and stealing road signs,” Oliver said. “People paint on the signs, shoot the signs, or just take the signs. And these aren’t just road name signs. These are stop signs and bridge weight limit signs.”

While it may seem like harmless fun, Oliver said vandalizing signs can have steep consequences. “It hasn’t happened around here, but in some places, people have gotten hurt because people took signs,” Oliver said. “If someone takes a stop sign from an intersection and the person driving doesn’t know to stop, they might cause a wreck.”

In other business, the commission approved four other items of business:

• Approved three Social Security Exemptions.

• Approved the renaming of the Pike County portion of Airport Road to Campbell Field Road to coincide with the City of Troy’s renaming of its portion of Airport Road to the same name. Pike County Engineer Russell Oliver also announced that work had officially begun on the county’s road striping project.

• Approved the use of an unexpected expense to repair the elevator in the Pike County Health Department building.

• Approved liquor licenses for Dollar General (Springhill) and Dirty Ernie’s Tavern Inc.