The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors gathered Wednesday morning for their final meeting of the year.

Supervisors signed a resolution honoring “the faith and courage of Donovan Mekhi Trudell” who passed away last week from liver cancer.

During the meeting, the Board spoke with representatives of the Mississippi Department of Health about recent changes to the agency.

David Caulfield, district administrator for South Mississippi Department of Health, and Jim Craig, director of health protection, thanked the Board for their financial support, which ensures the Pearl River County health department facility can remain open five days a week, while clinics in other counties reduced their hours due to state budget cuts.

In the last few years, Caulfield said the office has lost three positions and the county building is preparing to make some adjustments to compensate for changing services.

Those changes will be covered by the state programs, Caulfield said.

He did bring up the possibility of asking the Board for funds to create a new office space within the building, but no action was taken on that matter.

Craig told the Board the county should not see a reduction in services provided by the department.

For their first order of business, the Board approved Hancock Bank, Bank Plus and First National Bank as county depositories for the next two years.

County Administrator Adrian Lumpkin has said on previous occasions this was a routine measure to establish county bank accounts.

In a separate matter, the Board approved a payment of about $50,000 for the Walkiah Waste Water Disposal Project which is 98 percent complete, County Engineer Les Dungan said.

The remaining payments will be made upon completion of the project, Dungan said.

The state Health Department has already inspected the project, he said.

In other county projects, Dungan said the repair of the damaged storm drain in Poplarville was “essentially complete” with crews cleaning the area that day.

Board President Sandy Kane Smith said the work on Highland Parkway was “coming along well on both sides.”

Dungan said limited traffic was expected to be opened for Highland Parkway this week, with the realignment of Richardson-Ozona and Highland Parkway finished between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The Board awarded semi-annual bids for the road department under the advisement of County Road Manager Charlie Schielder.

They also approved an update of the county Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.

Emergency Management Director Danny Manley said normally the plan is rewritten every five years, but it was completed this year as part of a national response framework.

Also in that department, the Board approved the purchase of a boat motor to power an inflatable rescue boat. The bid was awarded to Mid Stream Marine for just over $5,000, the lowest bid received.

Read tomorrow’s Item for more information about Wednesday’s meeting.

The next Board meeting will be held Jan. 3 at 9 a.m.