Mathews supervisors agreed by a slim margin on Tuesday to accept ownership of eight of the remaining nine aids to navigation in Davis Creek and Hole in the Wall.

An initial motion on the matter made by board newcomer Amy Dubois failed for lack of a second after Pepper Love (who is also new to the board) and fellow supervisors G.C. Morrow and Edwina Casey expressed a desire to see the navigational aids remain but a reluctance to accept responsibility for them.

During discussion, Morrow said he was concerned about any possible liability the county might encounter if someone were to have an accident and blame it on improperly marked channels, while Love questioned taking on the responsibility without having nailed down the costs. Morrow concurred, saying, “if we were to throw the money into anything else that we didn’t know the cost, everybody in this room would be madder than hell.”

Love also said he had heard some opposition to the measure from residents and that he...