STARKVILLE — Citizen complaints about recent flooding in their neighborhoods brought an ongoing Oktibbeha County supervisors’ debate on whether to join the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District again to the fore — but still with no agreement.
Several citizens came before the board to express concerns about the impacts of heavy rains and floods on their property and the related infrastructure problems.
A branch of Sand Creek flows directly through the JennLake Meadows Manufactured Home Community, and it does not take much rain for the creek to overflow into the mobile home park, property manager Dori Hale told the board.
“If you get four inches in the period of a few hours, it’s going to happen, and the chances are we won’t make it another season without losing a home,” Hale said.
Dora Powers, a resident of nearby East Sand Creek Road, said the culverts under the gravel road are “wasting away” and asked the board to fix them. Kevin Cane, who lives on South Montgomery Street south of Starkville, said the county installed two culverts that actually made it easier for his property to flood.
“Now that water that was going two ways is only going one way, and when it rains two inches, four inches, I get all that water coming off South Montgomery,” Cane said. “It doesn’t drain to the east anymore. All the water comes to the west.”
The board had discussed the possibility of joining the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District at two of its fall 2019 meetings, but decided to further research membership in the Tupelo-based state agency that does flood control, cleanup and repair projects on waterways of all sizes in 12 northeast Mississippi counties. The agency can go on private property to clean up creeks, something the county cannot do without previous consent from property owners.
District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams proposed that the county join the water management district without further discussion.
“The longer we delay, the more problems we’re going to have,” he said. “It’s not good enough to hire someone to (clean a waterway) one time because this is an ongoing problem.”
The motion to join failed 3-2, with Williams and District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer voting in favor. District 1’s John Montgomery, District 3’s Marvell Howard and District 4’s Bricklee Miller voted against.
Montgomery and Howard had previously expressed their misgivings in November about joining the agency. Montgomery said his research showed that the agency completed several projects in some member counties and very few in others. Membership would cost $139,000 per year indefinitely.
“Forty-eight cents on the dollar is what the average county gets back, and there’s no guarantee that we’ll get any projects,” he said. “I understand the need, but I just wasn’t comfortable with it at that moment, and I’m still not.”
Howard said some counties have been able to back out of their water management district membership, which the board previously believed was impossible. Counties with no debt incurred from water management projects can leave the agency if the remaining member counties agree to it, County Administrator Emily Garrard said.
Miller suggested the county consider other options, and Montgomery said he will look for those options at the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Mid-Winter Legislative Conference, which all five supervisors will attend in Jackson today through Thursday.
If the county joins the district, the supervisors and the governor will each appoint a member representing Oktibbeha County to the water management district board. Property taxes fund the district’s services, and the county would reallocate existing millage instead of raising taxes.
County Lake filled to capacity
The recent storms have filled the Oktibbeha County Lake back up to full capacity, making it even more imperative for the county to replace the levee, Howard said.
If the levee breaks, 17,500 acres of nearby land would flood to some extent, and about 250 people would have to evacuate at least 112 households. It would cost about $8 million to replace the levee, emergency spillway and floodgate valve, as well as replacing part of County Lake Road and constructing a detour.
Emergency Management Agency Director Kristen Campanella told the board in December that the county could apply for five grants that could fund the project.
“It’s getting to the point where it’s just a matter of time before something happens, and I think it’s time for this board to be serious,” Howard said Monday. “I’m not talking about delaying for another year. I’m saying we need to start looking at taking some immediate action to address this issue.”
The lake is in the northeastern portion of the county, west of County Lake Road, which includes the bridge on the levee. It was built in the 1960s and holds about 3,406 acre feet, or more than 148 million cubic feet, of water at normal operating conditions. Its full capacity is more than 454 million cubic feet over 935 acres.
Howard said he, Campanella and County Engineer Clyde Pritchard have traveled to Jackson multiple times to discuss funding options with state agencies.
“We’ve pretty much arrived to the point where all the agencies are going to be expecting and looking for us to put some skin in the game first and let them know we’re serious about this, and then I think we’ll start to see some help coming in,” Howard said.
New board leadership
Supervisors unanimously elected new board officers Monday, as well.
Trainer, who has been president for more than seven years, stepped down from that role and nominated previous board vice president Montgomery to replace him. He also nominated Joe Williams as the new vice president.
The board accepted both nominations.
Trainer had been board president and Montgomery had been vice president since October 2012, when Howard relinquished the president’s position after almost three years. Trainer was previously vice president. The board elects the positions at the beginning of each calendar year.
“Mr. Montgomery expressed a desire to serve, so hey, everything has a beginning and an end,” Trainer told The Dispatch. “I feel comfortable that he can take the board even higher than where we are now.”
He said stepping down gives him opportunities as a supervisor that were less available to him in a board leadership role.
“When you have the chair, you have to be diplomatic and accessible, but when you’re out in the audience on the board, you can have more conversations (and be) involved in some of the discussions instead of appearing like you’re trying to drive, lead and take over everything,” Trainer said.
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