Supervisors approve $2 million bridge project in western county

The Union County Board of Supervisors Monday approved a $2.2 million project they hope will finish off bridge repair and replacement that has taken county officials’ attention for decades.

Supervisors received bids for two new bridges to be constructed on County Road 46 in the Tallahatchie River bottom between Enterprise and Pinedale. This is a flood-prone area with a number of bridges on CR47 that have required work over the past 30 years.

District Two Supervisor Chad Coffey said he hopes completion of the bridges should have the road in good shape for many years.

The apparent low bidder was Glasgow Construction Company Inc. of Guin , Ala. with a price of $2,201,827.29. The other six bids ranged as high as $3.2 million.

County engineer Larry Britt said $2,052,705 given to MDOT by the legislature is available for the project, meaning the county must come up with about $150,000. Second District Supervisor Chad Coffey said they can probably use bridge funds to go ahead and the get the project started before winter. Some funding for reimbursement may be available later.

The bid acceptance was contingent on verification of the totals in the bid.

Annual items

Supervisors formally approved the budget for the county school system, noting there will be no tax increase needed for next year, and plan to have the public hearing on the proposed county budget and tax levy at the regular September board meeting. That will be Sept. 8 rather than Sept. 7, which is Labor Day and offices will be closed.

Emergency action

In special business, the board voted for Emergency Management Director Curt Clayton to proceed with some emergency communications repairs.

They approved the low quote of $9,228.45 from ComSouth to make repairs to the radio transmission tower and related equipment at the Union County Fairgrounds.

Clayton said lightning had struck the tower blowing out the lights and radio repeaters for the county road crews and sheriff’s department. Clayton added that the county has already received a warning from the Federal Aviation Authority because the hazard the tower creates without lighting. The tower is generally in line with the runway at the New Albany-Union County Airport. The other bid for the work was for $9,945 from Central Mississippi Communications in Kosiusko.

In another communications-related matter, supervisors modified a previously approved Rural Development Loan resolution to conform to requirements. The loan will be to purchase new equipment and technology for the county’s E-911 emergency telephone system but a requirement is to state formally that the loan will be insured with a general obligation bond.

The improved system will cost nearly $800,000.

Personnel

In personnel, the board approved a resolution to allow Deputy Adam Fitts to retain the sheriff’s department canine officer Dutch. Dutch is being retired due to age and health problems and Fitts has been his handler and partner.

They also approved changing Scott Benson from full time to part time as jailer in the sheriff’s department.

Financial

Concerning a financial matter, board attorney Chandler Rogers said the county is concerned about two businesses here that have filed for bankruptcy protection. While both companies are up for date for 2019, he said taxes will be due for 2020 and that could present a concern.

One is VIP Cinema Seating, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and then closed entirely after the pandemic occurred.

The second is NPC International, which is the franchise holder for the Pizza Hut in New Albany. The company is reported to be the largest franchise holder for Pizza Hut and Wendy’s in the country. A trade magazine reports that revenue for Wendy’s is much better than Pizza Hut and the company may consider selling their Wendy’s stores. The Wendy’s in New Albany is not owned by NPC, but by a local regional franchise holder.

Community services

A personal appearance was made by a representative from Lifecore Health Group (formerly Region III) who presented the organization’s annual report to supervisors, asking for the same tax support as in previous years.

“Despite the crisis, our doors have remained open and everyone is employed,” she said. She noted that they provide counselors to all city and county schools and continue to provide crisis stabilization and other health services to Union Countians.

Over the past year Lifecore has had 101 admissions from Union County residents and served 468 Union County patients. The county provided $25,500 in support and Lifecore returned that with providing $25,329 in patient assistance for medication and purchased more than $34,523 from local vendors. They also provide a variety of chemical dependency services, both in-patient and out-patient, as well as other treatment.

Miscellaneous

In general business supervisors:

• Approved a request to continue the 10-mill tax levy on property in the Lappatubby Bi-County Drainage District. Board President Randy Owen said the tax levy is supposed to be used to keep creeks and ditches in the district clear. Lappatubby Creek runs south from the Tallahatchie River to Pontotoc County between Pinedale and Ingomar.
• Approved a permit application for construction of a water distribution line on County Road 7. They said the request is for the Town of Myrtle to add water service on county roads 7 and 14.
• Approved two inventory deletions from the fire department for a saw and charger. The first was reported stolen and the second had become defective.
• Approved settling outstanding funds from the circuit clerk’s office to the county. These are mostly uncashed checks and while a couple were for small amounts, one was for more than $5,600.
• Handled routine items such as monthly budget updates, paying monthly fees for death investigations by the medical examiner-investigator, per diem claims for the five election commissioners and Circuit Clerk Phyllis Stanford for services as county registrar.