The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors will hold a work session later this month to discuss how to improve the county’s roads.

The board Monday scheduled the session for March 16 after hearing complaints from New Light Road residents Fred and Tamara Allen, who were upset the New Light Road paving project has been delayed until 2012.

According to the county’s Four Year Road and Bridge Plan, two miles of New Light Road was scheduled to be built in 2010 and paved in 2011. However, the schedule was delayed and the revised plans called for the county to build and pave two miles in 2011 instead of 2010.

The most recent plan, adopted by supervisors in February, calls for the county to build 1.2 miles of New Light Road in 2011, then pave those 1.2 miles in 2012. District 1 Supervisor Carl Clardy said unusually wet weather over the past year caused the delay. The Allens, who attend board meetings regularly in shirts and hats reading “Pave New Light Road,” still were disappointed by the delay and encouraged the county to look into hiring independent contractors to perform road work instead of county road crews. The delays end up costing the county more money than paving the road would, said Fred Allen, a retired Certified Public Accountant.

“When I came here six years ago ... it was $40,000 (to pave a mile of road),” Fred Allen said. “Now it’s up to $200,000. So, whenever you defer these projects, you’re costing the taxpayers money. If you stay on schedule and accelerate the project (with independent contractors), you save money.”

“The other reason you want to use independent contractors is because they specialize,” he continued. “They’re efficient at paving roads. The government does not have a road construction division. They pay people to pave roads. The state pays people to pave roads. Paving roads is a specialization that we can incorporate and help accelerate our projects.”

Fred Allen also felt private contractors could perform the work at a lower cost than county crews.

District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer, a long-time proponent of road improvements in the county, said the county should look into another bond issue to help pay for road work. He suggested a vote by county residents in a referendum.

Oktibbeha County residents in 2008 approved a bond issue worth up to $27.5 million for renovations to Oktibbeha County Hospital and in 2007 approved a $26 million bond issue for improvements in the Oktibbeha County School District. The School District bond has since been paid off.

The county can borrow up to 15 percent of its total assessed value. With an assessed value of $307 million, the county can borrow approximately $46 million.

Supervisors in January voted unanimously to petition the state Legislature to increase its bonding capacity from 15 percent to 20 percent. Twenty percent of $307 million would be more than $61 million.

Trainer said the county is full of “forward-thinking” people who could potentially support another bond issue if it means driving on paved roads. Paved roads would save county residents money on tires and help avoid other wear-and-tear on their vehicles, Trainer said.

But Clardy said he and his constituents are taxed enough already. Board President Marvell Howard, of District 3, also was concerned whether or not a new bond issue would cause a tax increase and implored Trainer to come to the upcoming work session with more information, including potential increases in millage, costs and other data.

The work session is scheduled for March 16 at 10 a.m. in the Oktibbeha County Courthouse boardroom. It is a public meeting.

In other county business, supervisors Monday acknowledge receipt of a $250,000 grant for renovations to the Oktibbeha County Courthouse. The improvements include new lighting and flooring, painting and a repaving of the parking lot, among other things, County Administrator Don Posey said.