The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors heard a request Monday from Kid’s Hub, a child advocacy center that has been serving Pearl River County since July 2015. Executive Director Didi Ellis spoke about the work the organization has done in the county.
Working with the Department of Human Resources and local law enforcement, Kid’s Hub has helped 52 children in the county, Ellis said.
She requested a total of $18,000/year based on the child population in the county.
District Attorney Hal Kittrel spoke on behalf of the organization.
“There’s nothing but good coming from this. We need it. We use it. It’s for the benefit of the children,” Kittrel said.
Kid’s Hub is a nonprofit organization that performs forensic interviews for child abuse victims and offers counseling services and medical exams.
The Board took no action on the request, but will consider it during upcoming budget workshops.
Board Attorney Joe Montgomery said the Board is limited on how much money they can donate to nonprofits.
The Board also heard a proposal from the Pearl River County Emergency Operations Center and Shall’s Professional Services about forming a disaster preparedness plan, for a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina.
New guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have changed the process for applying for reimbursements, EOC Director Danny Manley said.
The debris plan could add an additional two percent to the county’s reimbursement from the federal government, bringing the total up to 87 percent.
The two-year preparedness plan would cost the county about $21,000, which it would fund through federal grants in 2017, a representative from Shall’s said.
The plan would ensure reimbursement from FEMA in a timely manner.
The Board also discussed setting a meeting with Senator Roger Wicker and Senator Thad Cochran, as well as Rep. Steven Palazzo. Holliday expressed a desire to speak with the representatives about the importance of the critical access designation of Pearl River County Hospital and Nursing Home.
He said that without that designation, the hospital could lose a significant amount of federal funding for its emergency room.
Holliday also said he wanted to discuss the Pearl River division repair project from the Army Corps of Engineers with representatives, which has been pending since 1998.
The Board passed a motion to have County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin set a meeting for the matters to be discussed.
In other matters, the Board also:
• Approved a contract from the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department for a new health insurance plan for inmates being held at the county jail.
• Approved covenants concerning future use of the land where the Liberty Road waterpark was recently finished.
• Awarded a bid to Hensley R. Lee Contracting in the amount of $49,775 to improve the boat ramp at Walkiah Bluff Water Park. The project is funded by a grant from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
• Awarded bids with the County Road Department for limestone, liquid emulsion and gravel. The bids were awarded to Warren Paving, Hunt Southland Refining and Shale Support, respectively.
• Approved bus turnaround requests for 2016-2017.
• Announced the county was $18,000 over the original budget of $13.5 million, with two months left.
The next Board meeting will be Wednesday, August 17 at 9 a.m. The Board is expected to hear an official recommendation from Lumpkin concerning acceptance of a phone system.
A public hearing to discuss the county millage rate is set for September 15.
Budget workshops for the 2017 fiscal year will begin Thursday, August 4 at 9 a.m. and are open to the public.