COLUMBUS – The Town of Columbus is currently looking into connecting the two Catherine Drives in the Holly Hill subdivision by creating a road through a cemetery that separates them.

Columbus Town Council met Thursday, Feb. 16 and heard from town manager Tim Barth. Barth said local attorney Phillip Feagan has agreed to do the legal work, at no charge to the town, of determining whether the town can join the sections of Catherine Drive.

Columbus recently heard of a 911 issue where a call was made from Catherine Drive and emergency workers went to the wrong section because the drive is split in two sections by the cemetery.

Barth told council last Thursday that two homes were the most affected by the issues because of their addresses. Barth said he worked with the Polk County E-911 system and got one address changed from 506 Catherine Drive back to the original 66 Catherine Drive, at least temporarily.

“In the next six months the town will have to either extend Catherine Drive to where it connects through to join the two ends or rename one section of the street to a new name,” said Barth. “The first step is to even see if it is possible to connect the two ends of Catherine Drive.”

In regards to the one address Barth got changed recently, he said the 506 is already another property on that street. Barth said he doesn’t know how it got changed or who changed it. 

Barth said after Feagan determines if the town can connect the two Catherine Drives through the cemetery property the town can then decide whether to connect them or to change the name of one section.