Supervisors approve tire-shredding plant

By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
Sept. 4, 2002
The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to allow a tire and plastic processing plant at 212 31st Ave.
Businessman Bill Cornish expects to receive an $800,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Quality to help pay the $1.7 million tab for building and equipping the plant.
Cornish expects to break ground in November and begin shredding tires from all over Mississippi and Alabama by Jan. 1.
The plant will employ six on-site workers and two truck drivers, and will contract with up to 20 tire haulers.
Processed tires will be sold to a company in Vicksburg that uses the shredded tires to make an asphalt additive that adds cushion and longevity to highway surfaces.
The plant would represent a change to the county's solid waste plan; it must also be approved by the Meridian City Council.
In other business, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors:
Accepted final versions of the maps for new supervisor, constable, election commissioner, justice court judge and school board districts. The maps will now go to the Justice Department for final approval.
Voters will cast ballots in their old districts this November; precinct changes will not be effective until 2003.
Accepted final real and personal property reappraisals which will be used to calculate the 2003 tax levy. Values for 2003 are up $45 million from $361 million in 2001 to $406 million in 2002.
The Board will hold a public hearing on the budget Sept. 16 and approve the final version Sept. 19.