hearing set

The Webster Progress-Times

WALTHALL -A public hearing will be conducted here later this month dealing with the county's proposal to apply for a loan on behalf of a prospective industry.

The Webster County Board of Supervisors plans to apply to the Mississippi Development Authority for a Community Development Block Grant to be loaned to an unidentified company contemplating relocating to the Red Kap building in Mathiston. The company manufactures military uniforms, according to previous board discussions.

Supervisors earlier this month directed the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District to prepare and submit an Economic Development Loan Program CDBG application for the county. According to previous discussions, the $250,000 loan, if awarded, would be applied toward the purchase of the building. The maximum grant amount available is $650,000.

The board, at a recessed meeting on Monday, adopted a resolution at the request of Planner George Crawford formally authorizing the GTPDD to prepare the grant application and administer the grant project. It also set the public hearing date for Nov. 29 at 11 a.m. in the Courthouse. A public notice about the hearing was published Nov. 11 in the Progress-Times.

In related action on Nov. 1, the board consented to designate Webster County as a participant in the Growth and Prosperity program, which would make the new company eligible for ad valorem tax exemptions.

Also Monday, Mike Collins, the new chief of the Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department, and Joe Edd Cooper, treasurer of the fire department's board of directors, addressed the board on behalf of the fire department. The fire department and the Board of Supervisors pledged mutual support.

Eugene Doss, county emergency management director/fire coordinator, updated the board on various matters later in the meeting. During the discussion, some supervisors referred to Collins' and Cooper's appearance before the board, when Doss was not present.

Board Vice President Larry Crowley, who was presiding in the absence of President Casey Weeks (see related story), requested that Doss contact Collins and clear up questions regarding assistance for a department training officer. Crowley also asked Doss to ensure that Collins understands liability issue requirements of the department's new contract with the county, specifically regarding volunteers who drive firetrucks.

"If they can't meet the obligations of their contract, we can't pay them," Crowley said.

Doss said he would meet with Collins as soon as possible. The supervisors concurred with Doss' request that he be allowed to ask Collins to contact him first with any problems regarding his duties before going to the Board of Supervisors.

In other business, supervisors:

€ accepted a bid from Sanders & Associates of Aberdeen for real and personal property appraisal and maintenance for the 2005 and 2006 calendar years, including an update in 2006. The total bid of $113,500 from Sanders, which currently has the appraisal contract with the county, was the lowest of three submitted.

€ approved additional work for the Courthouse elevator project that was not included in original bid specifications after a presentation by Holly Freels of Belinda Stewart Architects.

The work will involve the addition of a second-floor law library and the removal or relocation of plumbing. The total estimated cost of $11,738 for the subcontractor, labor and material will be paid from the county's law library fund.

In a related matter, Crawford presented a copy of a letter that he had sent to Gary Oswalt, president of contractor Sam Oswalt & Son. Crawford stated in the letter that he had reaffirmed the grant-funded project's requirement for hiring at least 30 percent of the total project workforce from displaced workers or the unemployed in Webster County. Crawford said two people had been hired under this requirement so far.

€ voted to advertise for the sale of 13 abandoned vehicles at the county jail. Bids must be submitted by 9:30 a.m. Dec. 20.

€ met briefly with Case dealer Joe La Rue of Tiger Equipment Inc.

€ approved the attendance of Chancery Clerk Russ Turner at an asset management (GASB 34) workshop on Nov. 16 in Greenville.

€ learned from Doss that he and the sheriff had picked up a hazardous materials trailer secured through Homeland Security funds.

€ designated the same holidays for county employees as the state for Thanksgiving (Nov. 25 and 26), Christmas (Dec. 24 and 27) and New Year's (Dec. 31 and Jan. 3).