The Simpson County Board of Supervisors met for their recessed meeting on October 16.
Road Manager Ben Warren reported that the county is trying to secure tanker car culverts to assist with maintenance. He said there are a few bridge “no bridge” areas that will be good candidates for the culverts. He explained that the structures are 19 feet long and are not considered a bridge.
County resident Edward McLendon reported a tree damaging his truck. He explained that limbs are hanging over Gum Springs Road, and a tree caused damage to his truck, bursting the windshield and denting the fender. The board determined that the tree was beyond their right of way and was on private property.
McLendon still encouraged the board to pay attention to Gum Springs Road saying, “The road needs to be cleaned.”
Tax Assessor Jamie Brewer was given authorization for her mapper to get additional training, and new hire Adrian Turner was approved as the new homestead clerk.
Sheriff Paul Mullins presented new hires for the Sheriff’s Department. Evan Sellers was hired as a part time deputy and Elizabeth Hill as a full-time certified deputy. Ashley Phillips was hired as a part-time dispatcher and Jermaine Feazell for MDOT trach detail. Billy Seghini and Eric Still were both moved to sergeants of patrol.
The board approved a contract with Motorola for body cameras for $65,550 over five years which equals $13,110 per year. The board was advised to have a sole source letter from Motorola. Members approved the request pending legal review of the contract and receipt of the sole source letter.
Inventory Control Clerk Charlie Welch gave an update on the county building project. He said he met with the contractor and the down spouts for the gutters were in good condition. They offered to use these savings from this line item in the contract to install a lightning protection system. Welch explained that what the board thought would be double pane windows in the courthouse is basically Plexi glass to add protection from UV rays. Welch said he was not pleased with mockup of the double pane windows, and the contractor will present two additional options. The roof of the courthouse is generally complete.
Welch said the trustee hall is near completion. Sidewalks and cabinets have been installed to the new hall.
Rhuel Dickinson presented the board with claims from two separate citizens for damage to their water line. Warren explained that the lines run parallel to the ditch and sometimes the equipment may cause damage. He also said that some of the water pipes are on top of the ground, and sometimes cut through the county’s culverts. He said when the crew breaks a water line, they repair it immediately if possible.
Warren said, “Whether it’s laying on top of the ground or not if we bust it, we try to fix it right then.”
Donny Welch raised a concern that the county crew cannot maintain the roads because of private lines running along the roads. He questioned where the county stands with these situations.
Welch said, “If you get to the point that these lines are so shallow, and we’ve got to go in an ditch these roads and cut some of these water lines up. My question is where do you stand with us maintaining county property versus a private water line?”
Warren said there are phones and water lines laying above the ground and they do their best to avoid them. The board discussed a course of action to minimize damage, but also allow county workers to maintain the roads.
Craft suggested providing notice to landowners that have lines running on top of the ground in the county right of way that the county is not responsible for the repairs. Warren said these types of water leaks also lead to damage under the road. Both claims were denied.
The board approved the rental of a road roller for $4,425 from Herc to assist the hot mixing crews. They also approved an auction contract with JM Wood Auction Company for the sale of two Kenworth dump trucks at the December 5 auction. The guaranteed sale price for the two items is $420,000 with an auction fee of seven percent. The trucks were purchased for $196,000 each.
The board approved the payment of $25,500 to each of the seven volunteer fire departments from the count fire funds. Danny Craft explained that the fire department have some relief. He explained that MS Forestry has dispatched a strike team to Simpson County to assist for at least two weeks until conditions change.
Danny Welch presented the right of way agreements for the Peacock Road bridge project to the board. All agreements and payment were approved.
Jason Busby addressed the board about the ongoing drought in Simpson County.
Busby said, “Somehow we been under a burn ban for a month and a half, and we still got people saying they don’t know it.”
He explained that conditions are extremely dry, and the county has gotten a tenth of an inch of rain in the last two months.
He said, “We’re treating grass fires like house fires right now. We’re dispatching two departments to every one because we have the potential for this to get out of hand.”
Busby said landowners need to know that if you start a fire and it gets off your property onto someone else's property you can be held liable for damages. He explained that Simpson County is in the highest level of drought.
Busby said, “We are at the highest level right now, there is no higher level, and it will take months of rain to get us back to where we need to be. These little showers that come through do us no good.”
Busby is stressing to the public how serious the drought situation and burn ban is. He said this is the first time in his 29 years as a firefighter that a strike force team has been dispatched to Simpson County. He explained that strike force teams are the people you see fighting wildfires in Arizona and California. The strike force team has been dispatched with a couple sets of bulldozers and 4 firefighting crews and will be here for two weeks before a shift change.
Busby asked for continued support spreading the word on burn ban. He said the county will need to get more serious on tickets for burning during the ban.
The board entered executive session to discuss legal matters before adjourning the meeting.
