City council considers renaming Barlow Street.

Published 8:25 pm Friday, December 20, 2013

The Bainbridge City Council is considering a decision to not only change a street name but also look into creating an ordinance on street name change procedures and protocol.

Tuesday at the Bainbridge City Council meeting, resident Curtis Waycaser approached the council and requested a street name change he claims will not affect residents, as there are no residents currently on the street.

“A little street in west Bainbridge is called Barlow Street,” Waycaser told the council. “Its just under 1,000 feet long and it has two street signs that mark it. It runs from each side of Bainbridge Methodist Church.”

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Waycaser told the council there were no residents on the street, only a house that was abandoned. He asked if the street could be renamed L.L. Ward Street after a man known for starting a small general store in West Bainbridge in the 1940s.

“I know nothing commemorating LL Wards life and he was a prominent figure in west Bainbridge,” Waycaser said. “I never thought of Mr. Ward being such a giant in the community, but I talked with folks that worked for him and I talked with folks who traded with him, who went to church with him and he was a giant in his community.

“One of the people who worked with him said many children would have gone to bed hungry many nights had it not been for the groceries Mr. Ward let them have.”

Council member Roslyn Palmer noted there was currently no ordinance on street name changes.

“If we (change the names) there then who is to say someone is going to come and want us to change another street and I would like to revisit and look and see what decisions we made in the past on this,” Palmer said.

City manager Chris Hobby confirmed there is currently no policy on name changes.

“Going forward we need to have some policy on name changes,” Councilwoman Glennie Bench suggested.

The decision to create a policy and change the name of Barlow Street was tabled.