Webster County supervisors have ratified a decision made to cremate an unclaimed body.
They approved a motion regarding the unclaimed body of Phillip Eugene Lyles on May 20. The motion ratified the decision of the board president after separate consultation with other supervisors concerning the unclaimed body of Lyles, who was a patient at Diversicare of Eupora.
The motion as recorded in the minutes reads as follows: “Mr. Lyles passed away on or about May 9, 2019. At the time of his passing, no meeting of the Webster County Board of Supervisors was to be held until May 20.
“The deputy coroner, Scott Dean, informed the board president of the unclaimed status of Mr. Lyles’ body on May 9. (Subsequently), the decision was made to have the body transported to the morgue in Houston to be held there until the body was claimed by the family.
“The body remained at the morgue in Houston for the statutory period of five days and no family member or other interested persons appeared to claim the body.
“Whereupon, the decision was made to cremate and dispose of the rapidly deteriorating body of Mr. Lyles. Wise-Reed Funeral Home of Eupora agreed to immediately provide transportation, cremation of the body and disposal of the remains. That was all accomplished on or about May 15.
“The purpose of this motion is to ratify all those activities and make them the official action of the Webster County Board of Supervisors by the passage of this motion and the spreading of all this information on the minutes.”
According to discussion by supervisors and online records, Lyles was 77 at the time of his death and had a Stewart address in Choctaw County until he entered the nursing home last November.
Other Business
Also on May 20, minutes show the board voted to:
• accept a quote from the Bank of Kilmichael of 2.45% to provide the financing on the funds needed to lease-purchase an IBM AS400 server for the new courthouse in the amount of $29,404.85 and reject a higher quote from BancorpSouth.
• authorize the board president to sign a letter of engagement with the state auditor’s office to perform the audit for the year ending Sept. 30, 2018.
• hire these summer worker effective May 21: Tanner Brown, Austin Chandler and Nathan Hitt for District 2; Jase Grantham for District 4; and Gray McCarter, Jared Kilgore, James Belk and Sloan Hillhouse for District 5.
• allow District 5 road hands to go upon three properties to fill in old wells and a fourth to cut a pond levy because the water is backed over two roads.
• appoint Larry Atkins as commissioner of the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority IV for another term ending June 13, 2024.
• hire Meek and Meek Attorneys to represent the county in Salley vs. Webster County at the rate of $150 an hour. This is in reference to a federal lawsuit filed in March 2018 by Robert L. Salley and Bonita Cunningham of Gore Springs in Grenada County.
As previously reported, the plaintiffs are seeking damages for injuries Salley claims he received after he evaded a roadblock and led Webster County deputies on a chase until he wrecked his car. Salley claims he was attacked by a K-9, and is also seeking damages for bullet wounds he said he sustained to the back of his right shoulder and right arm when a deputy shot at his car.
• allow Deputy Circuit Clerk Wanda Robinson to attend the one-day training offered by the secretary of state’s office for SEMS and legal deputy training on May 22 in Jackson.
• void the tax sale of a parcel for tax year 2017, which tax sale was held on Aug. 27, 2018. At that sale, Bennett Hills Inc. paid $1,310 to purchase the property. The clerk will refund that amount to Bennett Hills Inc. from the General Fund since the funds from the sale were paid over to it.
The board also instructed the tax assessor to reassess the ad valorem taxes on the parcel for tax year 2017 and to charge those taxes to the said property together with statutory interest but without penalties.
• enter into an interlocal agreement with the town of Mathiston to assist in the repairs and improvement of certain city streets.
May 31
On May 31, minutes show the board approved motions to:
• accept the resignation of Shay Holmes as deputy Justice Court clerk, effective that day.
• issue an $885 check to the Circuit Court for the appeal of Justice Court case Chad Tedder for DUI-1st. The fine has been settled to the county and is being appealed to Circuit Court.
June 3
On June 3, the board approved motions to:
• allow and direct the board president and chancery clerk to sign four separate documents dealing with the 2018 county audit.
• authorize the board president and clerk to sign the final resolution granting tax exemption from ad valorem taxes for Plymouth Tube from 2019-28. This is on property valued at $2.01 million.
• authorize Emergency Management Director Barry Rushing to sign county authorization to use two talk groups not owned by the requesting agency. The county is requesting to add two talk groups.
According to the discussion, this is in conjunction with the use of Mississippi Wireless Information Network radios on loan from the Mississippi Department of Homeland Security for six months. Rushing said he is applying for a grant to buy the radios.
In related discussion, Paul Lanthrip told the board he has put another radio repeater on the south end of the county and that one is also needed on the water tank at Legion Lake.
• spread upon the minutes a copy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance Management Costs Fact Sheet Interim Policy. The motion also authorized hiring Kendall Gibson and Ashley Harris as clerks to assist Rushing in entering FEMA reimbursement declarations into a computer at the sheriff’s office for compilation. They were hired effective that day and will be paid at the rate of $15 an hour, which is reimbursable from FEMA.
The county was added to a federal disaster declaration in May to receive public assistance for flood damage. It is eligible to receive up to 75 percent federal funding to supplement state and local recovery efforts for repairing damage to publicly owned property such as roads and bridges.
• hire Tyjuan Hughes and Payton Collums as temporary road hands for the summer for districts 1 and 2, respectively, both effective that day.
• remove Pauline Quinn as a Circuit Court bailiff and replace her with James Hill. Acting Sheriff Andy McCants told the board this was at the request of the clerk and judges because Quinn has not passed her firearms qualifications.
Jason C. White of S.E.M.S. Fire Protection addressed supervisors about onsite maintenance and inspection of fire trucks and pumpers. They asked White, who is director of operations and sales for the Monroeville, Ala., company, to prepare an estimate.
May 6
In business previously unreported from the May 6 meeting, minutes show the board voted to allow Justice Court Clerk Lisa Dean to attend an associational summer convention in Biloxi from May 9-10.
In a clarification of a previous report, the board also voted to allow both Justice Court judges to attend an associational convention in Biloxi from July 13-17.
The board was to open bids Friday for an Emergency Road and Bridge Repair project on Tomahawk Road. Its next meeting is at 8:30 a.m. Monday.
