The Simpson County Board of Supervisors presented a resolution honoring Edward Hartwig on his retirement from the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office at their June 17 meeting.
Hartwig has been a valued member for the Sheriff’s Office staff for many years.
In other business, three bids were opened for the purchase of a backhoe loader from Puckett, Lee Tractors, and Stribling. Puckett bid $152,400 with a guaranteed buy back up to 36 months. Lee Tractor Company bid $176,512 with a guaranteed buy back of $101,864. Stribling equipment bid $161,083 with a guaranteed buy back of 85,000 up to 36 months. Bids were taken under advisement.
New York Life Insurance representatives made a presentation to the board on whole life insurance for their current employees.
James Smith with Sunbelt Resource and Development spoke to the board about hiring him to apply for a grant through the MS Housing Development using its two-phase application. He said if hired he will be able to submit the initial application with general information about the county. If the county is chosen there will be a follow up application with a list of families and detailed plans to assist. The maximum award is for the grant is $600,000, and the county can spend up to $150,000 on reconstruction and $50,000 on rehabilitation of a house. He said the county would need to advertise for someone to submit the applications and hold a public hearing. Supervisor Danny Craft moved to take the information under advisement, but the motion died for lack of a second.
Concerned citizen Sandrena Durr, who says she has lived in the county for 52 years, appeared before the board to say that her road has not received any attention in several years despite neighboring roads being paved recently. Durr said she spoke with her supervisor, Danny Craft, who told her that her road was not fixed because her mother said she was not going to vote for him. Craft was not allowed to respond during the meeting.
Greg Bonds updated the board on county projects and said he plans to get boring done at the rubbish pit. The board discussed recent bids for projects on Peacock Road and Dry Creek Road. Allen Coleman Construction was the low bidder for both Peacock Road and Dry Creek Road projects. Bonds also told the board that the New Hope Road project will be up for bid within the next two weeks.
Road manager Ben that his crews have over 2,000 road that they tend to. Work on John Ayers Road is currently being held up due to recent weather and equipment, which is being repaired to move forward. Warren also presented two new hires.
Sheriff Paul Mullins closed out the Jag Grant in the amount of $6,955 and presented two new dispatch hires.
County Emergency Director John Kilpatrick said permits sold for the month were over 3500. He also reported eight fires in the county and one family that received Red Cross assistance. He said the radio project is now 100 percent complete, and will assist the county in moving forward. Kilpatrick said fire district lines will be changed, and the Braxton Fire Department is in the process of converting to MSWIN communications. Kilpatrick said Magee is also looking into switching to MSWIN so all fire departments will be on the same communications.
Inventory Control Clerk Charlie Welch updated the board on the ongoing roofing issues at the courthouse. Welch said Malone Roofing has defined where the two primary leaks are in the courthouse after doing a water test. Welch explained that Malone Roofing, to the best of their knowledge, do not think the repairs were done to the specifications on the previous projects. Malone presented a bid to repair the identified leaks, but the bid would not come with a warranty.
Board Attorney Danny Welch has been investigating the situation and said an on-site change to the plans had not been brought before the board.
Welch will be in contact with the architect and will research any legal action that can be taken against the previous contractor, Latham Group.
The board agreed that establishing the pole barn in Harrisville makes the most sense for the county in terms of travel. Building and installing the barn will cost $23,860 and require 12 weeks lead time on the installation of the barn for dry storage. The board voted to move forward.
The board discussed the benefits and drawbacks of renting a motor grader. They also discussed a Herc rental contract for three backhoes with plans to place one each at the central barn, Pinola barn, and Harrisville barn. The board unanimously agreed. The board also approved Herc rentals for a boom lift and trench roller for a limited time.
Covington County Hospital Ambulance Service has the use of a 2024 Ford F-150 as a quick response vehicle. The vehicle has been added to the Simpson County inventory list.
Attorney Danny Welch said a settlement agreement and fee in lieu agreement with MS Hub has been approved by the board and MS Hub representatives. The agreement has been sent to MDA for approval. Welch also reported that payments from the opioid settlement are trickling in, and the money is supposed to be used for opioid remediation programs and to restore money that counties have spent due to the opioid crisis.
The board entered executive session to discuss personnel before adjourning the meeting.
