Newton County supervisors are not too happy with the way the Mississippi Transportation Commission distributed the $250 million Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund last week.
Of the four priority bridges the Board of Supervisors asked for funds to repair, the county received money for only one on Newton-Calhoun Road.
“We got $431,000 out of $250 million,” Supervisor Joe Alexander said. “There ain’t no one can explain that away to me. That’s bull. It was bull when we started, and it’s bull now.”
The Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund was created by the Mississippi legislature during a special session in August to address the state’s dilapidated bridges. Filling out applications for the funds in November, the Board of Supervisors were skeptical Newton County would see it’s fair share. However, they thought they’d see a little bit more than $431,000.
“They didn’t say it was going to be fair from the start,” County Engineer Duane Stanford said.
Even funding for one bridge is good when it isn’t coming from the county, Stanford reminded the board. While having four priority bridges isn’t good, some counties had upwards of 20 bridges closed.
“We’re not in as bad a shape as some of these other counties,” he said.
Whether the distribution of the funds was fair or not was not settled, but all agreed the money should be put to good use immediately. As Newton-Calhoun Road is in Board President Charles Godwin’s beat, it was up to him to decide what to do.
“If you don’t do it quick, you aren’t going to get it done for a while,” Alexander said.
According to the ERBRF documents, Stanford said, the transportation commission wanted all projects complete within three years. However, he said, with so many counties looking to make repairs, there may be a shortage of qualified workers.
“There’s not enough contractors to get the work done in three years,” he said. “It may take 10 years.”
The board voted to begin advertising as soon as Stanford could draw up the project specifications. If they’re able to start advertising this week, bids will be opened March 5.
