Crews within the next several weeks will begin making several Lowndes County roads smoother for traveling motorists, members of the county Board of Supervisors announced during a Monday meeting.
Possibly beginning in early June, crews with Jackson-based APAC Mississippi will begin overlaying more than 16 miles of Caledonia-Kolola Road, Jess Lyons Road, Lake Lowndes Road and Starkville-Tarleton Road. During the project, crews also will re-stripe, update signage and complete shoulder work along the roads.
“It will probably take a few weeks for them to get all the paperwork in order before they actually get out and start working,” said County Engineer Bob Calvert. “So I expect they will come out in about a month.”
The announcement came after the board approved a $1.7 million bid from APAC to complete the project. The bid edged out a $1.8 million bid from Columbus-based Falcon Contracting and a $2 million bid from Jackson-based Superior Asphalt.
All three bids came in lower than the more than $2 million estimated price tag originally placed on the project, county officials noted.
Once paving begins, the project will be completed in about 60 days. Prior to paving, the company and county officials will hold a pre-construction conference to decide if one road should be paved before the others.
In other business, the board:
n Explained county officials will be unable to aid residents on Christian Circle in improving the quality of the road.
Because the short gravel road off Highway 69 South is privately owned, the county Road Department is unable to improve the street”s conditions, explained Lowndes County District 1 Supervisor and Board President Harry Sanders.
“The people who live on that road own an easement along the entire length of the road,” Sanders explained of the roughly 25 residents who live along the road. “That easement allows all of the residents on that road to maintain the road.
“The way I look at it, the private property owners can get together and handle it,” Sanders added.
Although District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith acknowledged the board”s “hands are tied,” he asked if there was any legal action the board could take to improve the road”s conditions.
“There”s a guy who owns property at the beginning of the road who is going out of his way to make life difficult for the other residents living there,” said Smith. “He has told the other people down there that he would do what he thought needed to be done to maintain that road, but he”s not doing anything and he won”t let anyone else handle it. It”s definitely an ongoing issue.
“The waste services company recently told the residents down there that it will discontinue service to that area until the road conditions improve,” Smith added. “I”ve taken it upon myself to get contractors to give those residents estimates on what it would take to grade and repair that road. I am referring all further direction to our attorney.”
Because Christian Circle residents expressed uncertainty regarding their rights, Sanders and Board Attorney Tim Hudson explained all residents along the road had the ability to maintain the entire road.
“The county can”t do anything with that road because it”s private property, but any one of the property owners has an easement along the entire length of that road,” said Sanders. “Any of the property owners that wanted to could pool together and get the whole road graded, even if one or more of the property owners was opposed to it. That”s just the law.”
“I would be glad to write a letter to those people confirming that they can legally maintain that road,” said Hudson. “But I would be acting just as myself, not as the county attorney.”
n Discussed hiring practices at the Lowndes County Road Department.
The discussion came after Smith expressed concern over the previous removal of a Road Department employee position in Ward 4.
“A few years ago, an employee left the road department (on a leave of absence), and this board said it was going to hire him back later, but it never did. I won”t mention the employee”s name, but some of you know who I”m talking about,” said Smith, who this morning declined to reveal the worker”s identity or elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his job loss. “I need that position filled, because there is a shortage of work in my district.
“Losing that one man and not replacing him makes a difference in my district day to day,” Smith added. “I am asking the board to be considerate of my district.”
Although Smith said he was concerned about the lack of Road Department employees in District 4, Sanders and County Administrator Ralph Billingsley said hiring at the department was the responsibility of county Road Manager Ronnie Burns.
“If there”s a shortage of work in District 4, the road manager should move someone to District 4 from another district,” said Sanders. “I don”t recall any supervisor ever coming in here before and asking about employees at the road department.”
“We had 59 total employees last year, and we will this year too,” said Billingsley, noting Burns soon will hire one person to work in District 5. “It”s Ronnie”s responsibility to hire who he needs where he needs them.”
Smith criticized the hiring system and claimed there has not been a “system of fair play” recently at the Road Department.
“You can talk about how it”s supposed to be on the surface, but I know how it really is. I”ve never seen anyone at the Road Department moved from one district to another,” said Smith. “I ride those roads, and I know what needs to be done. But I understand that it”s a mindset that additional workers in District 4 are not needed.
“I”m standing down right now, but when the board comes to me and asks me why work”s not getting done, I”m not going to stand down,” Smith added. “District 5 is the only district that has hired anyone in the past few years. All the people who work in District 4 were there when I started serving.”
Sanders explained there is “always a backlog of work” at the Road Department, and said supervisors should not get involved with Road Department affairs.
“Planning and utilization of the manpower they have is the way the Road Department gets things done,” said Sanders. “And if the supervisors would stay out of the Road Department, it would be in good shape.”
“We don”t look at specific districts at the department. We look at the county as a whole,” Burns said. “I could use five more employees, but we have to work with what we”ve got.”
n Announced the county will be auctioning off several surplus vehicles and pieces of equipment May 9 at Taggart Auction at 1206 Gardner Blvd. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Anyone with questions is encouraged to call Taggart at 662-244-8718 or visit www.taggartauction.net.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
