Supervisors faced with many concerns, requests in work session on Friday

By Staff
Jan. 17, 2004
By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Lauderdale County supervisors heard several concerns and requests during a three-hour work session held Friday in preparation for Tuesday's regular board meeting.
Johnnie West, who lives on Armetta Hood Road, told supervisors she and her neighbors in the Long Creek area of Lauderdale County want their road paved.
West, who estimated the road to be about3⁄4 of a mile long, said that District 5 Supervisor Ray Boswell was rude and unhelpful to her when she approached him about it.
She said three Lauderdale County school buses travel the road, one for Southeast Middle School, one for Southeast Elementary and high school, and one for Clarkdale Attendance Center.
When it rains, she said, she has to take her son to the end of the road for the school bus to pick him up.
West acknowledged that the road is maintained, but she said the ditches along it are not.
Boswell told West the road is in excellent shape compared to its previous state.
Supervisors are expected to consider a resolution Tuesday to issue General Obligation Bonds up to about $3.5 million for road paving and other capital improvements.
West was told the paving of the road would be up to Boswell, but he has vowed to add his name to a petition to force the issue to a referendum. A petition will require the signatures of 1,500 registered voters to put it on a ballot.
Other concerns
Supervisors also heard from Karra Camp, a resident representing several residents in the Shallow Creek area of Collinsville, who have complaints about a neighbor.
In addition to describing harassing actions from the person, she said there is a health issue that needs to be addressed at the person's residence because are no utilities hooked up to it. She also described criminal activity she said some had witnessed, but Lauderdale Count Sheriff Billy Sollie said when residents at Shallow Creek have been asked if they want to sign an affidavit for the charges, they have declined.
District 3 Supervisor Craig Hitt offered to meet with a representative of the Mississippi Department of Health and county law enforcement to try to address the health issue.
Supervisors will also take up a petition Tuesday from property owners and residents along Lizzie Road, Carmel Church Road and Highway 19 South, for supervisors to take action to clean up what the petition describes as "disgraceful junk on the Snowden property located on Carmel Church Road, Lizzie Road and Highway 19 South."
Matching funds
Judith Phillips, a research assistant with Mississippi State University's John C. Stennis Institute of Government, and Louis Sutton, president of United Way of East Mississippi, asked the board to allow money it approved last year as a local match for a YouthBuild grant United Way did not get, to be used for an AmeriCorps grant it did receive.
Sutton said grants for both of the programs were applied for at the same time and he hoped to implement them together. Both programs train people in construction work by building houses and doing community service projects, such as making repairs for community non-profit organizations. The YouthBuild program focuses on high school dropouts age 18-24 but the AmeriCorps program has no age limit.
Sutton told supervisors the work is not limited to Meridian's city limits.
Supervisors budgeted $100,000 to assist the YouthBuild program. For the AmeriCorps program they are being asked to give $32,011 each year for three years. Other community matches for the program are coming from the Meridian Housing Authority totaling $58,000, Meridian Community College totaling $5,643, United Way totaling $13,200 and the Stennis Institute totaling $7,600. Federal funds of $255,520 have been committed to make up the difference of the $371,974 total program cost.