County leaders have extended a state of emergency resulting from flash flooding in February.
The Webster County Board of Supervisors voted April 1 to extend the state of emergency that exists in the county because of extreme flash flooding that started Feb. 19. The original resolution to do so was passed by the board on Feb. 28.
The board is requesting the governor to extend the state of emergency to April 30 and passed a resolution to that purpose. The same motion designated county EMA Director Barry Rushing as the authorized contact person.
At least 65 roads, three bridges and one home in the county were damaged from the flooding, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Board President Pat Cummings said MEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local emergency management officials were scheduled to conduct joint damage assessments this week in the county.
Also during last week’s meeting, Cummings called County Engineer Karl Grubbs with questions about administering the county’s part of the BP lawsuit settlement, which is $250,000.
One question was whether the BP money could be used for paving the parking lot at the new courthouse, since it would be for public use. Grubbs said he was not sure but would check on it. Bids for the paving and striping for the new courthouse will be opened April 30.
Other Business
The board also handled these matters on the respective meeting dates:
March 29
• voted to maintain the driveway of Carl Manus at 2874 Greensboro Road as a school bus turnaround through the end of the school year.
• voted to allow Veterans Service Officer David Ellison to attend his annual training school May 22-24 in Gulfport
• voted to allow District 1 road hands to go upon the property of Kenny Carmichael in District 1 to remove brick and concrete that will be used as filler and riprap.
Lara Bowman of The Enterprise addressed the board about economic development, according to the minutes. Additionally, the minutes reflect that Dwight Utz, a retired civil engineer, addressed the board about other ways and designs of bridges in which the county might use.
April 1
• voted to pay $21,700 from the Volunteer Fire Levy Fund to the General Fund as the final repayment of an interfund loan and pay $7,060 from the Volunteer Fire Levy Fund to each of the bridge funds.
• at the Sheriff’s Department, voted to hire Tammy Bright as a part-time dispatcher/jailer effective April 1, make Deangelo Liggins a part-time deputy instead of full time effective April 8 and make Blake Love a full-time deputy instead of part time effective April 15.
• voted to allow Tax Assessor-Collector Barbara Gore to attend her annual recertification meeting April 15 in Verona.
• recessed until 8:30 a.m. Monday.
• Correction/ Clarification: The board accepted bids totaling $1,900 from Mississippi Demolition on March 18 for 10 surplus and junked sheriff’s vehicles. An incorrect amount was reported in a March 27 article. Also, to clarify information in a March 13 article, the board accepted a quote on March 4 from Data Systems Management of Columbus to purchase and install a new AS-400 server (computer operating system) for the new courthouse. The article did specify where the server would be located.
