WINTON – It appears that Hertford County citizens living along Beer Garden Road will soon have to undergo the process of an address change.

Acting upon a matter presented last month, the county’s Board of Commissioners continued to ponder the possibilities of changing the name of Beer Garden Road, a state-maintained road located near Murfreesboro.

At last month’s meeting, Rose Stephenson, the county’s Rural Addressing Director, reported that souvenir hunters, noting the road’s unique name, were apparently stealing the signs on a regular basis. She said it cost the county $100 to replace a road sign.

In an effort to rectify the problem, the Commissioners gave Stephenson permission to survey the residents of that road of how they would feel about a name change.

She reported back to the Commissioners on Monday, informing the county leaders that the residents agreed to change the name. When asked if there was a consensus among the residents to what to rename the road, Stephenson answered some offered family names.

&uot;There was an idea of Garden Road, but there’s a Gardner Road already in the Hertford County road system and that may cause some confusion,&uot; said Stephenson.

Stephenson then introduced her own suggestion – Tower Road, chosen due to the Murfreesboro water tower located at the end of the road.

&uot;If this is agreed upon by you, I will notify, in writing, everyone on that road of the name change,&uot; she offered. &uot;I will also notify the tax department in regards to the impending changes in addresses.&uot;

Chuck Revelle, attorney for the Board of Commissioners, inquired of Stephenson if she had contacted the Department of Transportation and the Murfreesboro Fire Department. Beer Garden Road (SR 1185) is part of the DOT’s highway system and is also part of the Murfreesboro fire district.

Stephenson said she had not contacted either DOT or the fire department.

&uot;Let me get with Mrs. Stephenson to make sure that we have all the i’s dotted and all the t’s crossed and we’ll bring this proposal back to you at our next meeting,&uot; suggested Revelle.

Revelle was instructed by the Commissioners to follow his own suggestion.

As agreed upon during the October meeting, there will be no cost incurred by residents of Beer Garden Road in regards to changing the name of the road.