Complaints were lodged at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting in regard to the residents of New Life Ministries.
The facility as well as the old Scaife Hotel, which burned May 19, is contracted with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to offer a different type of housing environment for former inmates. Their website claims that this is not the typical halfway house for those who are reentering society. However, residents who live nearby have a different take on it.
Complaints were made that the facility has traffic 24 hours a day seven days a week. It was also stated that the privacy fence that was built was done so to hide suspicious activities.
The building which was home to the old Scaife Hotel went up in blazes several months back was then home to as many as 70 residents. Now however, the owner, Larry Perry said there are only 32 residents as of Monday. He said there is a supervisory staff that is supposed to be managing the residents and the coming and going is limited and should not be done that way. Perry said he was unaware of the situation but said he would contact the county to help correct the situation.
The rubble from the fire was still there in the location it was when it was engulfed by flames.
The board agreed to have their attorney, Danny Welch, draft a letter to the Department of Corrections voicing the concerns that were brought to the board. There was concern as to the quality of individuals, former inmates, being housed in the county.
The board adopted an ordinance approving a 25 mile per hour speed limit in the Old Magee subdivision. There was not discussion as to enforcement of the new speed limit.
Road Manager, Ben Warren, reported the county has resurfaced 32 miles of chip and seal and lacked another five miles for this year. He reported they would start preparation for next year once this was complete. The board approved the temporary closure of the Boss Stein Road in the western part of the county. This road has been under contract to be paved for the past three years but has never dried enough to get equipment in to do the work. Residents have access to their property from the other end of the road.
The board approved the extension of the emergency order dealing with Covid-19 and the CARES act.
There was discussion from the board in regard to funds that were available for expenses directly related to Covid. John Kilpatrick made discussions to the board for possible considerations which included Zoom meetings and being able to do that for future operations. The cost for the Zoom option would cost the county $37,000 according to Kilpatrick. There was also discussion about purchasing IPads for board members. It was estimated those would cost $1,000 each and there would be the need to acquire. There was discussion about needing and ionizer for the jail with no priced mentioned as well as a sanitizer. Kilpatrick also suggested that funds could be spent on laptops but there are very few employees that could work from home because of being able to deal with the public. Another alternative is the teleconferencing upgrades to communicate between the county offices with the jail and E-911 communications center.
The real issue is that there are no set guidelines as to what will be paid for. First it must be that the item was needed to deal with the pandemic and secondly was the expense associated budgeted. If it meets those criteria it should be reimbursable. The board is planning on holding a special called meeting to determine as to what expenses they may want to incur to qualify for the funds. The deadline is October 15 for funds to be spent but the invoice for supplies or equipment may suffice.
The circuit clerk’s office has available at an 80 percent grant match though CARES for 20 percent local funds to help conduct the election as long as it is pandemic related.
The next regular scheduled meeting of the board is set for September 8 with the county observing Labor Day on September 7.
