Greg Cullom of Fox Everett Insurance Co. sent his apologies in a hand-delivered letter for storming out of an earlier meeting of the board to the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors.

In a previous supervisors’ meeting, Cullom expressed his distaste to the board concerning the way things were moving on a proposal he had presented the county for handling its insurance needs, then stormed out of the meeting. The board is still under contract with Thigpen Insurance, the broker that has handled their insurance needs for years.

After Cullom left the meeting, the board opted to send an invitation to the company to present a proposal for its services when the contract was to be renewed at the first of the year.

Monday, another representative of Fox Everett, Diane Moore, approached the board with Cullom’s written apology in hand.

“I understand on his last visit he was a little more passionate with his opinion than he should have been,” Moore said as she handed a copy of Cullom’s apology to each member of the board.

Moore then proceeded to ask the board to consider using Fox Everett as the county’s insurance representative, either with Zurich or Travelers Insurance. She said Travelers aggressively wants to pursue the business of the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors.

Board president Danny Wise asked if the county switched companies from Zurich, which currently holds the county’s policy, to Travelers would it hurt the county’s chances of finishing the claims it has from Hurricane Katrina. Moore said she was not sure about that but board attorney Nova Carroll advised against it, saying it would weaken their chances of receiving a claim.

The board made no decision on the matter, but District IV Supervisor Robert Thigpen said of Cullom’s method of apology, “A true gentleman would bring his own apology.”

Problems with getting local contractors to bid on small repair projects apparently has kept the projects from even being bid on. Rusty Anderson with the Poplarville Athletic Association asked about the status of getting repairs to the dugouts and bleachers at the ball field done. Wise said that the board has advertised for bids but received no responses during the last board meeting. The board has put the projects out for bids again and hopes that a local contractor will have the time to lend to the projects.

County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said the board hopes to get bids in within the next three weeks. If the board does not get any bids this time, it is considering going outside of the county or using a larger contractor by grouping all the small projects into one large one.

Waste Management Regional Manager Mike Hall presented a third quarter report and payment of $15,780.77 to the board. Hall also reported that the use of tare weights in county trash disposal has speeded up the line.

Hall reported that he has noticed that some people who claim to be county residents come through Central Landfill with Louisiana license plates. They have Mississippi driver’s licenses but get Louisiana tags because they say it is cheaper, he said. Hall said he had a man tell him he has lived in Pearl River County for eight or nine years but still does not get his tag from Mississippi.

Thigpen made a motion to not allow drivers with Louisiana tags to dump for free in Central Landfill. Those residents must have a Mississippi tag and driver’s license to get county resident benefits. Hall wanted to wait to start the process since it would cause a commotion and an increase in calls to the board members.

“I promise you nobody’s going to call me and tell me, ‘I don’t have a Pearl River County tag,’” Thigpen said.

The board approved Thigpen’s motion and accepted the third quarter report and payment from Waste Management.

More development is coming to the county with 1,037 residential lots approved in Monday’s meeting. The board approved preliminary plats for Old Mill Landing Subdivision, Caeser Oaks Subdivision, Hunter’s Trace Subdivision and Tate Switch, Covey Run, Fox Bend, Deerfield, Deerwood Park, Fox Meadow, Park Ridge, Hunter’s Cove and The Grove, all in Wildwood Subdivision. All of the lots in the subdivisions listed equal to more than 1,000 lots still to be developed, said Planning and Development Director Harold Holmes.

During that part of the meeting a supervisor with another county expressed his thoughts on the Pearl River County Planning Department.

“You folks got one of the finest planning departments in the state,” said Harrison County Board member Larry Benefield.

In other business the board;

— Approved the purchase of a D-4 tractor for the price of $83,578.

— Approved entering in to a contract with the Chancery Clerk’s office to digitally back up of land records.

— Approved closing the south west end of Jim Pearson Road for safety reasons.

— Approved refunding $19,000 to Maurice Fraire from drug forfeiture.

— Approved the appointment of Sandy McCardle to the Pearl River Community College board of trustees.

— Approved a $250 contribution to the South Mississippi Livestock show.

The board meets again at 9 a.m. Dec. 4 at the Poplarville courthouse.