WALTHALL — The Webster County Board of Supervisors met in executive session last week to discuss economic development.
Supervisors voted to go into executive session regarding economic development during their regular meeting on June 5. They did so at the request of Chad Winter, director of the Webster County Economic Development District, who remained in the boardroom with them.
The board returned to open session 25 minutes later with no action taken.
Chancery Clerk Russ Turner told supervisors that Marshall Bailey of Calhoun County had paid all of the back taxes he owed Webster County, plus attorney’s fees, on 16th Section property he leases from the Webster County School District. The board had voted Dec. 5 to hire Meek & Meek Attorneys at Law to bring suit against Bailey to collect the unpaid ad valorem taxes on his 16th Section agricultural lease for year 2019.
In a similar case, Artie Sutherland of Webster County appeared before the board last August and discussed the unpaid ad valorem tax bill on the 16th Section property leased by him.
Meeting minutes show the board approved motions stating Sutherland’s unpaid and now-delinquent ad valorem taxes for tax years 2018, 2020 and 2021, along with all penalties and interest on those taxes, will not be removed or reduced by the board.
“It ought to be our policy that if someone owes back taxes we shouldn’t approve a 16th Section lease for them (after the School Board initially does so),” Paul Crowley (District 4) said last week.
Also on June 5, Rosalind H. Jordan of Kosciusko, candidate for district attorney, addressed the board concerning her experience and qualifications. She and fellow Deputy District Attorney Adam Hopper of Grenada are running for the open seat in the Aug. 8 Republican primary.
The race will be decided then because no runoff will be necessary and the primary winner will face no opposition in the November general election. Incumbent Doug Evans is not seeking another term; Jordan said he is retiring at the end of June.
A representative of a local finance company appeared before the board in reference to delayed and delinquent Justice Court dates. “We’re fixing to get an answer,” Board President Pat Cummings told the representative afterwards; the matter was not discussed further during the meeting itself.
Deputy EMA Director Tom Booth updated the board on grant applications.
Additionally, the board voted that morning to;
• allow the supervisors and attorney to attend the Mississippi Association of Supervisors’ annual convention, which was June 12-15 in Biloxi.
• adopt resolutions commending Peyton Flora, a May graduate of East Webster High School, and EWHS softball coach John Harris as the Starkville Daily News’ Softball Player of the Year and Softball Coach of the Year.
• hire summer road workers.
-----------------------------
May 1 Meeting
On May 1, meeting minutes show the board voted to pay Thomas Gillon of Columbus the rent of the E-911 offices for the month of April in the amount of $3,000 in that the contract will reflect that the lease began April 1.
The motion also authorized the president and clerk to sign a lease agreement on behalf of the county. The 911 Fund will be amended to create a new line item, Rent, and will reflect that the line is funded in the amount of $18,000. The payments to the lessors will be made from that line item.
The lease agreement is between the county and “Fairview Extension, Thomas M. Gillon and wife, Sheryl Gillon,” new owners of the former Wood Institute property in Mathiston. The agreement states Fairview Extension is a creation of and a part of Fairview Baptist Church of Columbus. Thomas Gillon is the church’s minister of senior adults, disaster relief and missions.
The lease is for the entire building on the campus once known as the Old Science Building Annex, now known as the Webster County Emergency Operations Center, located at 221 Wood Circle.
Also on May 1, the board approved motions to:
• allow Justice Court Clerk Lisa Dean to attend an associational conference that was to be held May 17-19 in Biloxi.
• pass the final resolution for a five-year ad valorem tax exemption for Plymouth Tube Inc. that began Jan. 1. This is on property described as valued at $206,671 and follows approval by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
• authorize the president to sign a 10-year 16th Section lease of 18.5 acres with Scott McGarr that began Feb. 1.
• purchase 300 tons of No. 7 limestone from Port of Columbus (Rogers Group) in the amount of $30 per ton. The board noted for the record that the quote was not the lowest but is the best quote because the cost of hauling the limestone from the business’ premises of the lowest quote makes the total cost of the limestone to the county more if the lowest quote was accepted.
----------------------------
May 15 Meeting
On May 15, minutes show the board stated on the record that the MAS County Employee Scholarship Committee selected the recipients for the 2023 MAS employee scholarships. Webster County is eligible for two $500 scholarships based on its participation in MAS-endorsed insurance programs
Supervisors then voted to recognize May graduates Christopher L. Robinson (Eupora High School), son of Deputy Circuit Clerk Wanda Robinson, and Lauryn O’Briant (East Webster High School), daughter of 911 Dispatcher Tiana O’Briant, as the county’s recipients.
Tommie Vance, Webster County’s Community Counseling Services commissioner, and John McLendon, CCS county administrator, appeared before the board to discuss May being Mental Health Awareness Month. They also gave a year in review on the county level as well as Community Counseling Services as an organization and expressed thanks for the county’s continued support of CCS.
Ryck Morelas, public affairs specialist with the Small Business Administration, addressed the board concerning Webster County being a secondary disaster county, and businesses and non-profits being able to apply for disaster loans for economic injury under two Mississippi disaster declarations. Application deadlines are Dec. 26.
The board also approved motions to:
• grant to AT&T the right to a utility easement on the May Road bridge project right-of-way located in Webster County.
• hire LaToya McKey and Austin west as part-time jailers effective immediately.
• spread upon the minutes a copy of Constable Jeremy Kilgore’s annual financial report.
• allow Webster County Youth Court personnel to attend MYCIDS (Mississippi Youth Court Information Delivery System) training in West Point, May 22-26, and to reimburse their mileage for the days each has to attend. Attendees were to be Buchanan Meek, Jacqueline Meek, Danielle Bank and Irene Surma.
• grant the board president authority to sign Weyerhaeuser documents when they are received by the board attorney. The documents consist of a right-of-way deed and easement on a bridge project.
-----------------------------
May 31 Meeting
On May 31, minutes show the board approved motions to:
• remove a radio and five computers from county inventory as junk and of no value to the county.
• allow Justice Court Judge Rebecca Ellison to attend the Mississippi Justice Court Judges Association Summer Convention to be held July 16-20 in Biloxi.
• allow District 4 equipment and employees to go onto the property of Jerry Helms to fill an abandoned well for safety and health reasons.
• approve payment to Phillip Patridge for relocating a 4-inch water line for a creek crossing on May Road in the amount of $15,500. The relocation is for a bridge project.
• authorize the president and clerk to sign the closeout documents from the Mississippi Development Authority Bond Grant Program for a Small Municipalities grant project in Mantee.
• approve the claims docket for the month.
