The board approved advertising for applications/resumes to fill the position of county administrator/comptroller. The position will be vacant after March 31st when long time employee Diane Wright retires from the position.
The application deadline is March 28th at noon with the board meeting on the 29th to discuss applicants. The projected hire date is April 1st. (See advertising in this week’s paper for job requirements.)
The Board of Supervisors, along with State Representative William Shirley, presented the Quitman High School Lady Panthers a resolution Monday morning during the board meeting to recognize the basketball team for recently winning the 4A State Championship basketball title.
Members of the basketball team, coaching staff and school personnel were present to receive the resolution in their honor.
The resolution recognized the leadership and encouragement of Head Coach Gina Skelton, Assistants Danielle Haney and Kandis Blakley along with team members Keriunna Bonner, Kara Miller, Shonte Hailes, Lonkeria McCoy, Chequira Bonner, Tyesha Bland, Shaterria McKines, Raven Jones, Bayleigh Busby, Dyneshia House, Jamiya Moore, Sendreca Howard, Tavyanna Moore, Amber McKenzie, Ariana Robinson and managers Miesha Bland, Dreanna Gates, Aria Johnson, Troyeshia Odom, Natalie Pearson and Dalton Boutwell, video manager.
The board continued with county business after the presentation including receiving a flood damage report from Emergency Management Coordinator Eddie Ivy.
Ivy stated that assessments have been completed and that at least 20 homes in the Shubuta area were damaged with some receiving 3 inches of flood water to 3 feet following the recent flooding of the Chickasawhay River.
“All damage needs to be reported to us so that we can turn this in to the state,” said Ivy. “We were approved as a state of emergency but right now there is now enough damage in the county.”
District Two Supervisor Lorenzo Carter asked about sand bags and the possible prevention of some of the water damage to homes if sand bags had been distributed sooner rather than later. Ivy stated that sand bags had been received and were filled and distributed by the Friday evening when officials declared a state of emergency. They discussed the possibility of pre – filling sand bags for storage for any future events, but Ivy advised that there is a short shelf life to sandbags filled with burlap because they start breaking down over a period of time and are not effective.
Road Manager Terry Starks gave a report on the conditions of the roads following the flooding and discussed a problem on county road 277 that needs to be repaired. The board also discussed the DeSoto boat ramp that is beginning to undermine from a large hole near the ramp. The county receives $3,000 per year from Pat Harrison Waterway to maintain boat ramps in the county.
The board approved the road department to hire two seasonal workers to cut grass at county owned buildings during the spring and summer months.
The board met with a resident who stated that their vehicle received motor damage from the flood after her daughter drove on a county road that had water across the road. The resident stated the county road was not barricaded and her daughter traveled that road to go home; however, the vehicle received flood damage from attempting to go through the water across the road. The board advised the resident that a claim would have to be made with the county insurance carrier to determine if the county was liable for the damage.
The board approved the initiation of paperwork to begin the determination of closing County Road 1151 (Fleming Lane) and also to open a road located off Hwy. 512 as a public county road.
In other business, the board;
Approved paying the retirement of county constables through the state PERS system
Approved a pay increase for a county employee who received CDL licenses
Approved Beth Fleming to attend the Mississippi Association of Supervisors summer convention to work on the conference team at the convention. The county will pay the salary and MAS will pay per diem
approved the four year road plan
Recessed the meeting until March 29th to discuss the hiring of administrator/comptroller
All meetings are open to the public and are held in the board room located in the courthouse annex. Board meetings begin at 9 a.m
