The Simpson County Board of Supervisors recently held their recessed meeting and discussed getting a lease and service agreement contract for equipment.
Road Manager Ben Warren explained that heavy equipment like backhoes and bush hogs are becoming difficult to maintain and suggested the board enter a lease agreement similar to the recent agreement discussed with Herc for work trucks. Warren reported that the county has eight backhoes with two in the shop and one currently unavailable. He said the county would be better off leasing the equipment and leaving the maintenance and repairs to another company.
He added, “The days of getting a tractor and keeping it 25 years is over with.”
He explained that the cost of repairs has increased as the equipment has become more computerized and said repairs that would cost $300 or $400 dollars now cost thousands. Supervisor Wayne Womack agreed, saying that the quality of the tractors has improved, but the county cannot afford to buy all the equipment needed to work on them like a dealer can.
Warren also reported safety concerns with lights and other features not working correctly on the backhoes. He was approved to reach out to companies to find out more information on lease deals.
Warren also discussed traffic concerns and the need to put proper lights on the work trucks before an accident occurs. The board discussed mounting safety lights on trucks and added these specs to leasing trucks.
Tax assessor Jamie Brewer presented surrendered tags for March and gave an update, stating that 6,223 Homestead applications were presented with 250 new.
Darryl Parker with Community Connections informed the board that a connectivity and renewable energy conference will be held in Hattiesburg on July 18-19 at the convention center with a focus on education, workforce development, and finance in a renewable energy space. He said the education portion is designed for elected officials to learn more about what is happening with renewable energy. The conference will include representatives from the federal, state, and local levels to discuss the topic. The board connected Parker with the Simpson County Development Foundation for further collaboration.
The board approved County Administrator Eric Bowen to apply for the MDEQ Local Solid Waste Assistance Grant, Solid Waste Enforcement Officer and Household Hazardous Waste Day collections grant in the amount of $31,210.
The board discussed hauling regulations for county roads. Attorney Danny Welch spoke briefly about a heavy haul ordinance. Welch said the county can establish an ordinance to control the routes of these trucks. He said the harvest permit allows a trucker to haul in excess of what has been allowed by state law or local ordinances. The board discussed drafting an ordinance requiring loggers to get a permit with the county before logging, that establishes the route to be taken. Solutions to policing the loggers routes was discussed. The board discussed finding a balance between regulations on logging and not hurting the county’s landowners. Welch will draft and present an ordinance at a later board meeting.
Charlie Welch, the county’s IT director and inventory control clerk, updated the board on boiler repairs at the detention center and on verification of use and collection of bills at Solid Waste locations, reporting that 854 of 1,390 addresses have been inspected, and 56 percent of the address are visible at these locations. Welch said 67 percent of the residents are accessible, 65 percent of the residents do not exist at these locations, 48 percent of the residences are occupied, and 11 percent of the locations have multiple residents on the property. The board discussed how to handle Solid Waste accounts that have not been paid. Solid wWste has been moved to the tax assessor’s office.
The board approved Greg Burkhalter’s use of the dump with a fee of $400 a load after review and draft of a contract. The board also approved repairs to scales at the dump.
The board entered into executive session to discuss the MS Hub case.
