Interim Mississippi State Aid district engineer Jerry Gilliland said out of the roads in the 12 counties he represents, he believes Sturgis Maben Road in Oktibbeha County is in the worst condition.
While he said this should be Oktibbeha County’s top priority road to be repaved, the board of supervisors has not allocated any recent funds to this project but instead to other roads such as Poor House and Oktoc roads.
“In my opinion, that’s the worst road in y’all’s county,” Gilliland said. “I rode all of them, and I was amazed that road was in that kind of shape.”
The board met with representatives from the Mississippi Office of State Aid on Wednesday to discuss how to move forward with repairing roads and receiving state aid dollars.
Other than the worst roads not getting the highest priority, Gilliland questioned how the county allocates its road money from the outset.
Oktibbeha County technically operates as a unit system, meaning the board sets one budget and operates as one, rather than a beat system in which separate road budgets are set and each district supervisor acts as an independent road manager. However, when Oktibbeha County receives any road money — either from local taxes or state aid — it divides the money evenly among the districts and lets each supervisor set the road and bridge repair priorities for each district.
Noting the county would receive more than $2.1 million in State Aid this year, Gilliland encouraged supervisors to leverage the funds for the greater good for the whole county, rather than needs in individual districts. Montgomery County, he said for example, prioritizes its worst roads in the entire county and works on one road at a time. While not every district may have a large road project every term, he said this is much more effective instead of dividing funds between each supervisor.
“You’ll each get $426,000 if you split it five ways,” Gilliland said. “You can’t fix a road with that. … I know you’re here to represent your district, but you need to prioritize your county.”
Aside from State Aid dollars, District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery said the county at times will receive money from state legislative bills, but these funds primarily go to Districts 4 and 5 because of their close proximity to Mississippi State University.
This disproportionately affects the other three districts, he said, since they are typically only allocated the split money.
District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams disagreed with Montgomery saying that his district rightly received its money, and other funds, such as “his” state aid money, should not be given to someone else.
“We’re not going to take money from no one else,” Williams said. “That’s not fair.”
Despite Gilliland’s advice, the board voted to advertise for bids to repave and repair Poor House Road.
State Aid engineer Harry Lee James said state aid has identified a list of priorities for the county, starting with two bridges that are in dire need of repair. He said until the board creates a plan for how to fund and repair bridges on Crawford and Sturgis West Point roads, it cannot receive any of its State Aid dollars for projects such as Oktoc Road. Because Poor House Road was programmed before State Aid identified these bridge problems, the county can still receive its state aid dollars for that road’s repavement.
“Bridges at the local level have suffered for years for the sake of having better roads,” James said. “You can dodge a pothole, but what’re you going to do when that bridge comes down? You might have to drive five miles. You might have to drive 50 miles.”
The estimated cost of repairing the bridges is around $1 million. James said some of that money needs to come from State Aid dollars, but the county can use other money in its possession to fund it.
“I’m not saying that you need to spend every dime of your State Aid money on these, but we do need a plan of how you’re going to look at moving forward,” James said. “… As long as I’m still where I am, the priority of the bridges isn’t going to change.”
If the county chooses to use only State Aid funds to repair the bridges, only around $500,000 will remain in the county’s State Aid fund, which is not enough to repave an entire road. James recommended if that is the route the board chooses, it should pay to restripe all of the roads throughout the county.
Montgomery said he was hoping to use some state aid dollars to fund Sturgis Maben Road, which is in his district.
“It’s amazing how I try to bring up (Sturgis Maben) Road,” Montgomery said. “We hear it. We listen to it, but it just never gets done.”
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