First board meeting of 2015
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, January 6, 2015
NEW AGENDA: The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors met on Monday, Jan. 5 to plan out the county’s agenda for 2015. They discussed a bill that could possibly help the county grow economically and development projects coming up around the community, among other things. Photo by Ashley Collins
The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors met Monday morning to discuss county plans for 2015.
The board began the meeting by approving board minutes from December.
Later on in the meeting, Pearl River County Engineer Les Dungan announced upcoming county projects, which will start construction this month. Projects include the Richardson- Ozona Road realignment project and E.T. Poole Road bridge replacement project, which will both begin at the end of the month. The bridge at Barth Road in Poplarville is set to close and start construction by the end of this week.
The Board also acknowledged the $14,206 MEMA payment for safe rooms, and recognized Jan. 19 to be a holiday due to the birthdays of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert E. Lee.
In other news, representatives from several of the county’s volunteer fire departments spoke to the board about ongoing signal interference issues with the current radio system used by their firefighters.
Last year, the board made a motion to let COMSOUTH, Inc. inspect the existing facilities, which at the time were having the same interference issues, but they didn’t find anything at the time. The board has decided to wait to take action on the issue until the departments can provide physical evidence of a specific problem by February.
Later on in the meeting, District One Supervisor Anthony Hales announced to the board a plan he said would help Pearl River County grow.
“I’m still not satisfied with the progress in this county and it isn’t because great men didn’t have great ideas but rather the lack of funds has hampered sustainable development in this county,” Hales said.
He suggested a countywide 1 percent sales tax increase on all items taxed at the 7 percent state rate, which he said would be used by the county to broaden its tax base.
He added that his plan would help the county address “infrastructure needs” as well as create growth for both home ownership and small businesses.
The rest of the board were in favor of Hale’s plan, and will draft a letter to submit to the state legislature in the near future.
The next board meeting is set for Wednesday, Jan. 21 in Poplarville at 9 a.m.
