The Webster Progress-Times

WALTHALL - Webster County's supervisors elected new board officers and handled employee matters during their Jan. 5 meeting, the first of the 2004-07 term.

New supervisors Robert Hitt of District 1 and Mart Salley of District 2 took seats on the board that morning. The first order of business was accepting a report from Chancery Clerk Russ Turner that he had inspected and approved the bonds of all members of the incoming Board of Supervisors. The board also approved the bonds of county officials other than the supervisors.

New board officers were then chosen for the new term. Elected by acclamation were District 5's Casey Weeks of Mantee as president and District 3's Lynn Lamb as vice president. Lamb, former board president, replaces Larry Crowley of District 4 as vice president.

Supervisors next voted to retain Buchanan Meek Jr. as board attorney; he has served in that position for 12 years. Another motion followed to hire Turner as inventory clerk in place of former chancery clerk Tootsie Doolittle.

The board voted to rehire these other county employees for the 2004 calendar year: County Engineer Jack Willis, Bookkeeper Johnny Turner, Fire Coordinator Eugene Doss, Purchase Clerk Kay Embry, Receiving Clerk Buddy Ray, Civil Defense Director Jimmy Bennett, Veterans Service Officer Eddie Patridge, Justice Court Clerk Janice Brunty and Deputy Justice Court Clerk Peggy Pepper.

Other personnel matters included approval of motions regarding road and bridge workers. One order was to lay off District 5 workers Will Avant and Komarcus Powell effective Dec. 31 because of the "financial situation," according to Weeks. Hired in District 2 effective Jan. 1 upon Salley's recommendation were Buddy Macon and Henry Mhoon. Hitt was a former District 2 road worker.

New Tax Assessor-Collector Barbara Gore also presented personnel matters that were approved for her office: the removal from the payroll of Nicole Orr, who had resigned, the rehiring of Carol Wright and Ann May, and the hiring of Annette Smith.

Afterwards, the board opened the lone bid received for the purchase of a new trailer-mounted disc chipper. The bid from from Diviney Equipment of Jackson was for $30,498 plus $988 for an optional hydraulic system.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality awarded the county a $25,000 grant last fall for the continued cleanup of unauthorized dump sites and for a wood waste recycling program, which will involve use of the chipper/shredder.

The board took the bid under advisement but later voted to accept it and apply for reimbursement from MDEQ for $16,500, which is the amount that the county can use from the grant for purchase of the chipper.

A motion was approved for the remaining cost to the county be divided among all districts except District 5 according to road percentages. Weeks had said during the discussion that he was opposed to dividing the cost by road percentages. He was adamant that he would only pay 20 percent of the cost, as was proposed for each district in an initial motion that was withdrawn, or nothing at all and not use the chipper.

Salley and Lamb said they would split Weeks' share by paying 12.5 percent more each. The approved percentage broke down to 15 percent for District 1, 34.5 percent for District 2, 35.5 percent for District 3 and 15 percent for District 4. The reimbursement from the grant fund will be paid by the same percentages to those four districts.

Walthall Fire Chief Benny Neal met with the board to ask that the county help the Walthall Volunteer Fire Department match a fire safety grant. Neal reported that the department expects to receive a grant of $66,842 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, although official notification had not yet been received. The required 10 percent match would be $6,684.

Supervisors questioned whether the board could match the grant since the department is located within the village of Walthall. But Neal pointed out that it is not a municipal fire department and is considered a county fire department under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. He said Walthall is an incorporated entity but that the village only provides a building for the fire station.

Members of the board said they thought the village should share in the match since it receives fire insurance rebate money from the state. Neal said the village does apply for rebate money, which it uses to help the department buy fire suppression equipment. But he asserted that the matching funds for the grant would have to come out of the county's rebate money. The grants are to be used to strengthen fire operations and enhance firefighter safety, such as replacing obsolete turnouts and self-contained breathing apparatuses.

Supervisors also said they had concerns about matching the grant because of questions that arose during a November meeting concerning the county's eligibility for those funds, and whether fire departments in the county had been or should be chartered individually or under the umbrella of Webster County Fire Services.

Separate applications for the grants were submitted for five fire departments inside Webster County. The Tomnolen, Clarkson, Mantee and Eupora fire departments have already been awarded such grants; the county has matched Tomnolen's and Clarkson's grants.

During the discussion, Lamb said, "All these fire departments are under one charter."

The board agreed to ask state Fire Coordinator David Thornburg to meet with the board at its next meeting, which is Tuesday. He and Doss had met with the board at the aforementioned November meeting.

"We need to get him (Thornburg) back up here to answer some questions and make sure we're legally allowed to (match the grant)," Crowley said.

The posted agenda at the Courthouse for the recessed meeting next week does include discussion of volunteer fire grants and other grants. The board would normally meet Monday but the Courthouse will be closed that day, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In other business, Meek said he planned to investigate ways of repaying all of the county's interfund loans, which he said needs to be done as soon as possible. He said that technically, the county is supposed to repay such loans within the fiscal year that they are borrowed, but has not done so because "we're so short of funds." The loans between departmental budgets total nearly $480,000.

Once and if that is done, he said the board should then start anew with adequate funding.

"You will have to raise ad valorem taxes," he told the board.

Supervisors, in other action:

€ approved the attendance of Coroner Steve Wells at a continuing education seminar in Jackson on Jan. 8.

€ approved a 10-year exemption from ad valorem taxes for Dixie Craft Trailers as requested by the company because of an expansion. Eupora aldermen did the same that night.

€ reappointed Weeks to the Golden Triangle Solid Waste Management Authority Board.