The Newton County Board of Supervisors met Thursday, where a big sigh of relief could be heard after confirmation that the county would not be required to repair two dams located in the county.
During their Feb. 6 meeting, the board discussed a letter received from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality that claims that the county is responsible for repairing two dams that are part of the Chunky River Watershed District.
The letter claimed that the county is responsible for maintaining the two dams in question, located on Stratton Road and Greenland Road, and that a schedule for repairing them is expected by Feb. 28.
Board Attorney Jason Mangum said he had reached out for more information from MDEQ, after looking over old documents from around the time the dams were built.
“I can’t find anywhere where the county is a part of it,” Mangum said. “I have some anxiety on telling you to go on private property, so we’re going to need some clarification before moving forward.”
District 2 Supervisor Joe Alexander agreed with Mangum, adding that repairing the dam on Greenland Road would be pricey.
“It would cost a half a million dollars to repair it like they want,” said Alexander. “It would take more than a couple of hauls of dirt to fix it. It will take a lot of time and money.”
At the Feb. 16 board meeting, Mangum shared that he had spoken with dam engineers at MDEQ, and they understand now that Newton County isn’t responsible for the dams due to not having an easement to go in and repair the dams.
“Typically, counties have easements to go in and repair these dams, but in our case the Pat Harrison Waterway District has the easement,” said Mangum. “After sending him all the documents, court records and other paperwork from back when the dams were built, they understood and said that we were good.”
Mangum added that there are federal funds out there that could help get the dams repaired and the local Soil and Water Conservation office and he expects that they will be proactive about getting some help.
In other action from the Feb. 6 board meeting:
-Sheriff Joedy Pennington appeared before the board to ask for a donation from each supervisor toward payment of tire machine and balancer, purchased for the price of $16,208. He let the board know that if each district donated $1,000 apiece, the machines would pay for themselves in three years. The board approved giving $3,000 per supervisor. A thankful Pennington let them know that the shop is running every day, so if they have a county vehicle needing tire work, bring it by.
-Pennington was asked by District 5 Supervisors Jacky Johnson and Alexander if there’s anything that could be done about road sign theft, which is an expensive problem. Pennington said he would meet with each one of them to figure out what to do.
-Approved a permit for Bay Springs Telephone Company to lay fiberoptic cable under a section of Gip Wall Road in Beat 4.
- Approved authorization for the purchase clerk to obtain the best financing rate for the lease purchase of 2022 dodge charger that had been on order since last November for the Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Pennington will be making a down payment of $16,509 from insurance proceeds from a wrecked vehicle.
-Approved dividing use tax money between the 5 beats, with each beat receiving $400,000 for roads and bridges.
-Approved Ethan Rigdon as Requisition Clerk for EMA.
In other news from the Feb. 16 board meeting
-Approved two names for the Election Commissioners ballots: Cindy Alexander for Beat 2 and Amy Hollingsworth for Beat 4.
-Approved special dockets for: $52,173 for bulk and materials, $16,231.05 for Beat 5 road, $17, 800.20 for Beat 2 bridge, and $18,141.75 for Beat 2 road.
-District 4 Supervisor Charlie Godwin shared that 4-H is working with their insurance agent to bump up coverage for shooting sports from $500,000 to a million dollars. He said once they get that, it would allow them to move ahead on a shooting sports range at the location of the show barn in Newton.
-Approved tabling the matter of a bill that was passed in the legislative session that allows counties to compensate employees that don’t accept county insurance. The board asked to table the discussion until they could get more information the subject.
-Approved the declaring of surplus property on a tractor, a dump truck, and half ton pickup by District 2 Supervisor Joe Alexander, and a tractor and dump truck by District 5 Supervisor Jacky Johnson.
