West Point Selectmen re-appointed Tim Brinkley and Jackie Edwards as members of the Golden Triangle Development LINK Board of Directors during their meeting Tuesday.
Brinkley is the city’s police chief, while Edwards is executive director of Community Counseling Services. They will serve three-year terms.
Each of the economic development alliance’s three member counties has four appointments to the board. Clay County supervisors recently appointed the county’s other two members. Former West Point School District Assistant Superintendent Paul Dobbs and LaDonna Helveston of Mossy Oak were the two county appointees named by supervisors.
Three of four seats representing Lowndes County have been filled. The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors recently appointed Rob Graham, Moak Griffin and Earl Weeks. The Columbus City Council can nominate one person to the board and had an opportunity to do so last week. They failed to agree on one of three applicants and re-opened the application process.
Two of the four representatives from each county are selected to serve on the LINK Executive Committee, which votes on major financial requests from LINK staff and approves its budget. The Board of Directors is an advisory board that has the power to veto an executive committee vote.
Safe Routes to School bids to be advertised
Selectmen also authorized Calvert Spradling Engineers to advertise for contracting bids for the Safe Routes to School program. Safe Routes to School is a state-funded sidewalk project designed to build sidewalks in communities where school students frequently walk to class.
Included in the SRTS project are portions of Brame Avenue, Calhoun Street to Central School, Main Street, Fifth Street to Fifth Street School and Progress Street to Fifth Street School.
Bids will be taken on that project and an overlay of Center Street from North Division Street to Fifth Street Nov. 13.
In other business, the board:
■ Approved a $1,750 match for Emergency Management to purchase new Weather Alert Radios to replace malfunctioning ones that were bought in 2002. The radios are used at schools, hospitals and public buildings in the area;
■ Approved its share of a local match to pave Airport Road. Both the city of West Point and Clay County will pay $36,850 apiece;
■ Approved $5,000 in grant funding from the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety. Brinkley said the money will be used to pay for overtime expenses for police officers to ensure motorists are wearing their seat belts.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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