Jefferson County commissioners demand feeder canal access

Jefferson County Commissioners say they want a road over the Great Feeder Canal opened by August 1. If not, commissioners said the county would vacate all public access agreements with the Great Feeder Canal Board, demand return of money it paid towards the project, and let the courts decide the question of public access.

The demand was hand-delivered to the president of the canal board on Monday.

Jefferson County contributed approximately $200,000 in cash and in-kind work to pay for a bridge and approaches to the canal head gate. The county also agreed to maintain the bridge portion of the structure and assume liability for continued public use of the crossing.

The public has had unrestricted access over the head gate since the structure was first built in the late 1800’s. The canal company closed the access for construction in the fall of 2015 and has not reopened it since then.

The current structure was completed in early spring, but public access had not been restored.

Commissioners signed a lease agreement July 25 after verifying that all safety plans and structures were in place.