At a recessed meeting on February 15, the Simpson County Board of Supervisors voted to increase the garbage rates to $48 per quarter starting April 1.
Supervisor Wayne Womack said that the county is processing 145 tons of garbage per week that is costing the county $172.30 per ton. He said that to get the fund operating in the black required raising rates by $3.18 per month.
Womack pointed out that over $2.5 million is owed to the county in unpaid garbage bills and that a diligent effort is needed to collect some of these fees to pay back the loan from the general fund. He said the garbage department has been operating in the red for three years.
Womack said, “We can’t keep throwing money at it. We have to give some real solutions to these problems.”
Womack said the board needs to determine who is getting their garbage picked up and whether they are paying their bills. He said the department needs to figure out how to get these fees collected from those who aren’t paying.
“It is not fair for us to penalize the people that are paying their bill for the ones that are not paying their bill. That’s just not fair to the citizens of our county.”
Supervisor Donny Welch moved to set the collection fee at $48 per quarter, which works out for pricing and accounts for overage on expenditures. The board discussed fuel and the price to process the garbage. Welch said this can be reanalyzed in 12 months and possibly be reduced. The board agreed unanimously.
Womack also called for the board to adopt a plan of operations for collections for the garbage department. During discussion the board approved designating the tax collector to collect garbage fees pending audit approval. The Solid Waste clerk will be moved to the tax assessor’s office pending the audit approval.
In other business, the Board heard updates on the county’s comprehensive plan from Gray Ouzts and Mike Monk with Central MS Planning and Development District and Pat Brown with the Simpson County Development Foundation. Ouzts said the comprehensive plan was last updated in 2009, and the plans are recommended to be updated every 5 to 10 years. Brown explained that the SCDF has been working on the project for the last couple of years and thanked Ouzts and David Wade for their help in moving the project to where it is today.
Ouzts said they have taken their time to collect accurate data to make updates to the comprehensive plan to further economic development efforts. She explained that a comprehensive plan defined by state code is that a county must have goals and objectives, community facilities, transportation plans, and land use plans. These plans, she said, are created using existing land use, population projections, and other data.
The proposed plan uses 2020 census numbers, which Ouzts said are “questionable at times.” CMPDD deployed a team that rode every road in the county and marked each parcel determining whether it was developed or undeveloped, residential, commercial, community use, or industrial. This survey was then used to updat the land use plan.
The plan also takes into consideration the needs of the county as discussed with the supervisors and county department heads. Ouzts presented the land use plan and emphasized that it was not a zoning map. The map broke down agriculture, residential, commercial, and industrial land and provided many details including places where utility services were available. She said the plan gives the supervisors a 20-year look into the future as to what development patterns are occurring in the county.
Ouzts presented recommendations for adopting an international building code to provide safety standards to make sure all homes have adequate and proper plumbing, sewer and electrical, and that homes are built to standards. She said once the codes are adopted, it would allow enforcement of a barebones ordinance that would permit continuation of existing uses but give the board more control over what is allowed in the future.
The maps were left with the board for further review after which the board will set a public hearing before accepting the plan. The board took the presentation under advisement.
The board signed a proclamation for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and heard from Haven House director Dr. Christine Bridges.
Road manager Ben Warren asked the board to consider spaying for this year. He said the county did not spray the brush around the roads last year, and it has been two years since the western part of the county has been sprayed. Warren said spraying will be more expensive this year, but he is not sure if the county can go another year without it. Warren said it cost approximately $75,000 just for the chemicals to spray half of the county the last time they sprayed. He estimated that the cost for the chemicals has increased by 50 percent. The chemicals would require a bid. Warren said it was expensive, but the county would save a lot of money from not operating the boom axes.
Warren also discussed the dead trees near the county roads. He said the county does not own these trees, and many of them are on private property off the right of way. However, when the trees fall they usually fall in the road. Warren said it would benefit the county to cut these trees ahead of time and push them back into the woods. Attorney Danny Welch said the landowners can be liable for their trees falling in the road. Donny Welch suggested a signed easement that allows the county to remove a tree that could be hazardous to the roadways and also releases the county from any liability while removing the tree.
County Engineer Greg Bonds updated the board on county projects.
Emergency Management Coordinator John Kilpatrick presented the board with a 911 address policy change. He said the board should make citizens buy permits when they get their address. He also suggested setting a time limit on the permits, such as 6 months for a mobile home and at least 12 months for a home. The board tabled the discussion until next month.
Kilpatrick also said the county should establish a mapping and data sharing policy, making sure that data stays within the county. He said the policy should require written permission from the board president before releasing this data.
“Everybody wants this data. We need to capture it and hold on tight to it.” Said Kilpatrick.
Pat Brown commented that the information is public record and explained that the county could charge for the data, but it must be made available to the public.
Brown also updated the board on recent prospects by the SCDF before the members entered executive session to discuss personnel.
