The Board of Supervisors held their first meeting for September on Tuesday to discuss several routine matters.

Board President Sandy Kane Smith was not present at the meeting. Board Vice President Hudson Holiday presided in his place.

Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison received approval from the Board to add two vehicles to the county inventory as a result of drug-related forfeitures.

The Board also approved payment of $5,509 for a new polygraph system for the Sheriff’s Department. The invoice was amended to represent a lower quote from the same vendor. The original cost was about $6,400.

The Board also authorized the Board president to sign a yearly JAG grant for the sheriff’s department in the amount of $5,025.

Allison also requested approval from the Board to award a contract to repaint and waterproof the jail showers.

District II Supervisor Malcolm Perry said there are a total of ten showers in the facility with significant mildew problems.

The Board awarded the contract to Atlas Waterproofing, Inc., from New Orleans, for $15,125.

They also received a bid from Southeast Waterproofing, from Metairie, for about $23,000.

The bid from Atlas Waterproofing, Inc. did not include pressure washing and sand blasting the showers, Perry said.

The Board plans to hire a local contractor to perform that work.

Pearl River County Engineer Les Dungan gave the Board several updates concerning ongoing projects.

Dungan said all of the concrete has been installed on the George Ford Road Bridge and crews intend to backfill the culvert early next week.

Dungan said he could not give a definitive date when the road would reopen. But he also said they plan to open the road on a temporary basis once the gravel was spread, in preparation for paving to take place.

Paving began last week on the Richardson-Ozona Road relocation project last week, with crews putting in 900 tons of asphalt on Friday, Dungan said.

The Board previously approved a motion to advertise for bids for two projects, the Poplarville sinkhole repair and the wastewater treatment improvement project at Walkiah Bluff waterpark, Dungan said.

Bids for the Poplarville project will be opened on Sept. 27.

The repair of the boat ramp at Walkiah Bluff is on schedule to finish this month, Dungan said.

The Board also closed out the CIAP grant for the Liberty Road waterpark. The project came in $14,000 under the $140,000 budget, County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said.

The Board also heard a complaint from Pearl River County resident Tammie Parks who said she was improperly arrested for driving a stolen vehicle.

According to Parks, the Mississippi Department of Revenue reissued stolen license plates, causing an error in the system.

The Board advised Parks to contact the Mississippi Commissioner of Revenue Herb Frierson to clear up the matter.

“We don’t have the authority to do anything about it,” Holliday said.

After discussing items on the agenda, the Board also spoke about various issues in the county.

The Board said there is a large portion of property in Hillsdale that needs cleaning, though it is uncertain who the property owners are.

Board Attorney Joe Montgomery said it would be a complicated project and require about $10,000-15,000 in litigation to determine ownership.

Montgomery also said the Board could have a licensed surveyor look at the land and determine if it is a hazard to the public, and allow the county to tear it town.

Lastly, Lumpkin said he met with InTelecom last week to discuss plans for the new county phone system.

The total cost of the project will be $274,000, an increase of $20,000 from the original proposal in order to install new cable in the courthouse, Lumpkin said.

The Board agreed that rewiring the building was a good investment because without it the new phone system would not be as effective.

“It would be like changing the oil and not the filter,” District IV Supervisor Farron Moeller said.

Lumpkin said the new system should be in place by the end of October.

Chancery Clerk Melinda Bowman also asked the Board for an additional $50,000 to conduct record restoration in her office.

In the event of a fire, Bowman said it would be catastrophic for the county because many of the records that date back to the 1800s would be lost.

In other news, the Board:

• Authorized a beaver control agreement with the County Road Department.
• Approved an interlocal agreement for aerial photography in the Pearl River County Tax Assessor’s Office.
• Approved personnel changes in the Chancery Clerk office, Circuit Clerk office, Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and the County Road Departments.
• Approved issuance of duplicate check for jury duty member.
• Approved the PRC Hospital and Nursing Home budget for next year.
• Tentatively scheduled a county town hall meeting for early November.

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 12 where the Board is scheduled to adopt next year’s budget.