Residents criticize supervisors on road work, economic development

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
April 20, 2004
Lauderdale County supervisors heard criticism from residents Monday, including former Supervisor Ikie Ethridge who complained the county is doing work on what he called a private driveway in District 3.
District 3 Supervisor Craig Hitt was personally offended by Ethridge's comments. He said the road is behind Brown's Store on Highway 19 North and was looked at by a committee of the board of supervisors last year.
Ethridge said he tried to phone Hitt on Friday, but was told he was out of town. Hitt said staff in the county supervisors' offices know how to get in touch with him at all times.
Ethridge said there was no way to tell that the road is public.
Public road
Hitt also said the family that uses the road gave him a letter signed by Ethridge when he was supervisor that committed the county to maintaining the road. Hitt said the board officially designated it a public road last year.
Hitt said he believed the letter was dated 1985, but Ethridge said he doesn't remember signing such a letter.
Ethridge said a new culvert is being put in and that it is being widened. He said the drive leads to a private cemetery where one body is buried.
Ethridge said he is upset about the work because there are more than 200 miles of dirt roads throughout the county that the board needs to maintain and upgrade.
Economic development
Herb Stott also spoke to the board, voicing his concerns about the county's economic development efforts and the empty industrial park popularly called, Malone Ranch.
He said when it was determined to buy the land for the industrial park in 1997, the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation contracted with a South Carolina economic development consulting firm that created a detailed layout for a direct interchange into the industrial park from Highway 45.
He also said a local engineering firm estimated the interchange would cost $38.9 million. Stott said the information is on file in the Lauderdale County courthouse and he left copies for each supervisor.
Stott also said there has been no constructive attention put toward the industrial park since the county paid $4.2 million for the property more than three years ago.
He said the county had 33,602 jobs in 1997, when it was decided the new industrial park was needed. Since that time, Stott said jobs have decreased by 1,240 in the county.
Plus, he said, the state saw a total 1.4 percent job growth during the same period of time compared to Lauderdale County's 3.7 percent job loss.