Supervisors approve natural gas expansion for Old Myrtle area

The Union County Board of Supervisors approved providing natural gas service to sections of the Old Myrtle area Monday and board members are expected to approve more expansion for an area near Pumpkin Center.

The Old Myrtle decision was pending engineering approval, which was not expected to be a problem.

Gas department engineer Will Denton presented the permit request to the board.

New Albany Light, Gas and Water will provide service to about 100 customers who live on parts of County Roads 7, 14, 53, 54, 55 and 515. The Old Myrtle area is approximately south of the present town. About five and one-half miles of pipeline will be needed.

The other expansion, when approved, will provide service to about 70 customers on County Roads 75 (also known as the landfill road), 76 and 77. This section will be about two and one-half to three miles.

“People have been asking for years. It should have been done a long time ago,” light, gas and water manager Bill Mattox said, but funding was not available.

The expansion is being done now thanks to bond money primarily used for gas expansion into Marshall County, he said.

“Ten customers per mile is a pretty good rule of thumb,” he said, in justifying expansion into an area. “Both these areas have good concentration.”

Mattox noted that “We’re not trying to make money,” but said it’s better to get the investment back in 10 years rather than 20 as far as building gas lines is concerned.

He said the work should begin in the next few weeks and be done by mid-summer with little inconvenience to residents. He added that letters were being sent out Monday to residents who would be affected.

In personnel at the supervisors’ meeting, the board approved full-time employment of Troy “Gene” Akins in the road department. “I have a man out and it has me in a bind,” board president and District Five Supervisor Steve Watson said.

Also, Sheriff Jimmy Edwards got permission for hiring four employees. Shawn Bradley Thompson will serve as part-time dispatcher, Steve Matthew Ragsdale will serve as part-time jailer, Melinda Sue Page will serve as part-time jailer and Jonathan Michael Medlin will serve as full-time jailer.

In general business, supervisors voted to advertise for one or more garbage trucks. Because it can take up to a year to get a truck, supervisors decided to advertise for one or more 20-yard single axle trucks and one or more 25-yard tandem axle trucks.

Also in equipment, they approved deleting some surplus items from inventory because they were sold at auction this past week. The unneeded equipment, only some of which was functional, brought in $36,000, which Watson said was satisfactory.

In other business, supervisors amended the airport budget by approximately $1,500, which is the county’s share of matching funds for the runway lighting project.

They approved two grant agreements that will help pay for bridge improvements and for purchase of the former John Pennebaker law office for use by the district attorney’s office, as reported previously.

In more routine business, supervisors approved paying the medical examiner-investigator for 15 death investigations.

They agreed to pay the circuit clerk for holding the March term of court and for services as county registrar. They also approved paying the five election commissioners for their allowed per diem fees.

In an unusual matter, they approved a petition for decrease in assessment value, because a clerical error had listed a structure as a residence when it was actually a shop.

The next scheduled meeting of the board of supervisors will be at 10 a.m. Monday, April 5.