We have all been looking for a smoother ride around Simpson County and relief appears to be on the way.
The Simpson County Board of Supervisors is moving ahead with a plan that would allow for up to 150 miles of roads to be resurfaced. Money for the project will come primarily from two funding sources, the first being a $6.2 million road bond recently passed by the board. In addition the board expects to receive $4 million more in federal Covid-19 funding for what is deemed lost revenue during the pandemic.
The county has already received $2.3 million of that federal funding and anticipates up to $2 million more, which they plan to earmark toward road paving. The exact amount will not be calculated until December 31, 2021, when an actual figure in lost revenues can be determined.
At their Monday meeting, board members said their goal is pave up to 150 miles of roads in the county with a 25 percent plus or minus number of miles to be determined by actual cost of work performed. This work will be two separate projects with the $6.2 million funding approximately 90 miles and the funding from lost revenue to pay for the balance of the work.
The board also stated that in addition to paving, the county would continue to do road repair. For the last two years almost 50 miles of road a year has been repaired, according to County Road Manager Ben Warren. The board contracted with Buddy Wolverton to be the engineer for the county on these paving and resurfacing projects.
The board heard their annual update from Region Eight Mental Health Services. Region Eight consists of five different counties, one of which is Simpson. Region Eight Executive Director Dave Van told the board that the organization had served the needs of 18,000 cases over the past year with just over 3,000 cases from Simpson County. In addition Region Eight offers a residential program for drug and alcohol addiction.
Simpson County’s facility brought in $5 million last year. This report is part of an annual report required by the State Legislature. Additionally, Van reported that they have not had to ask for an increase in funding to continue to offer services.
The board agreed that because of the amount of delinquent taxes on mobile homes and personal property, they would publish the names of those tax payers who are not current. This would be the first step in the process of collecting old taxes. The next step, according to the board, may be seizing the property and auctioning it for past due amounts.
Board members discussed the replacement of dump trucks for the county fleet. Part of the concern that the vendor addressed was seeing that the county could extend existing its contract until new equipment could be delivered. Truckworx indicated they would do so and agreed to submit that in writing to the board.
The board approved hiring Jeffrey Mann part time in the jail and Brandon Walker as a new hire for the jail.
At the end of the meeting the board agreed to go into executive session to discuss litigation with Mississippi Hub over the valuation of their Simpson County facility.
The next scheduled meeting of the board is October 15 at 9 a.m. in the board room. The board has been invited to meet with the Simpson County Development Foundation for a lunch-and-learn with the public school administration.
