Oktibbeha supervisors voted 3-2 Monday to join the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District after reviving a debate from last year over the pros and cons of becoming a member of the Tupelo-based state agency.
District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard suggested the county join the district after the supervisors voted unanimously to authorize an assessment of Hollis Creek, which has flooded residential areas in southern Starkville and Oktibbeha County recently due to the buildup of debris.
“I think it’s time, I think it’s of value and it’s not an outrageous cost,” Howard said.
District 1 Supervisor and Board President John Montgomery disagreed, saying it did not make sense for the county to pay $133,000 per year to an agency that was not guaranteed or required to complete any projects in the county.
Montgomery and District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller were the dissenting votes. Howard, District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams voted in favor.
The water management district does flood control, cleanup and repair projects on waterways of all sizes in 12 northeast Mississippi counties, with Oktibbeha soon to be the 13th. The agency can go on private property to clean up creeks, something the county cannot do without previous consent from property owners.
The board unanimously agreed in September that the county would benefit from joining the agency and decided in November to do further research before choosing whether to join. At that time, both Howard and Montgomery said they had heard that the agency did not allow counties to leave if supervisors decide to do so.
The board has since learned that counties with no debt incurred from water management projects can leave the agency if the remaining member counties agree to it.
Williams proposed the county join the water management district in January, and the board voted down the proposal 3-2. Howard was the one who flipped his vote Monday, and he said he fully changed his mind after some additional research on the agency.
“We’ve got so many drainage issues, and there are so many steps and regulations that you have to adhere to when you get ready to do a drainage project,” Howard told The Dispatch. “The water district is already equipped, they already know the process and they can handle all that up front.”
Montgomery and Miller both said they did not want to join an agency that could take years to turn its attention to the newest of 13 counties. Miller said the county should use the agency membership money to tackle projects with county employees “instead of putting that money into a wishlist basket.”
Howard said the county’s desired projects were not guaranteed to be “at the back of the line,” and assigning county workers to drainage projects instead of road projects could become a “slippery slope.”
“Instead of being so reactive, we need to be more proactive,” he said.
The board and the governor will each appoint a member representing Oktibbeha County to the water management district board. Property taxes fund the services, and Oktibbeha County does not need to increase millage rates in order to receive them.
Other business
The county’s 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew since April 6 expired Monday morning, and the board chose not to extend it. Most businesses statewide are gradually reopening after Gov. Tate Reeves limited their ability to operate throughout March and April due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Board attorney Rob Roberson said young people and African Americans are most likely to be suspected and held to account for violating curfews, and while the curfew is not meant to target any particular group, “it has a targeted effect.” He also said it might eventually violate the constitutional right to assemble.
“At some point, when does this become too much?” Roberson said. “If we can make this excuse today, could we make it a year from now? This virus is not going away, and I hate to say it that way, but at some point we’re going to have to decide how we’re going to approach this. I do believe we have a sheriff and police department that would be very careful in how they approach this, but this could have some far-reaching effects for our community.”
Reeves’ latest executive order requires a maximum of 10 people at indoor gatherings and 20 people at outdoor gatherings. He also allowed restaurants to serve 50 percent of their indoor seating capacity, and Roberson pointed out that more than 10 people could meet that requirement.
“We’re telling our citizenry to do so many things, and it’s really confusing as to what you can do and what you can’t do,” he said.
After almost an hour of executive session, the board also unanimously voted to send a letter to the ethics department of the state attorney general’s office to ask if a county engineer can do work for the county on a project he or she is overseeing.
The goal is to determine the scope of the business a private company can do for the county, Roberson said. Some officials and citizens have suggested that county engineer Clyde Pritchard might have a conflict of interest by drawing up plans to replace the county lake dam, a project his firm, Pritchard Engineering, would carry out.
A county engineer in Mississippi “cannot review, approve or recommend approval of his own plans or documents, or plans or documents prepared by any member of the firm of which he is a member,” according to the rules and regulations for the state Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
However, Pritchard’s job involves drawing up plans for county projects that Pritchard Engineering completes regularly, so if a conflict of interest exists for the dam project, it does for several past projects as well, Roberson said.
“This is the way things have been done as far as I know,” he said. “Of course we’ve used outside engineers and architects for other professional services, but we’ve used (Pritchard Engineering) quite a bit.”
He also said he did not remember any previous county engineering projects needing review and approval before Pritchard could follow through with them.
The board also voted unanimously to accept the lowest bid for the elevated water tank to be built at the North Star Industrial Park under construction in northern Starkville. Indiana-based Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors bid $2,468,300, higher than expected, said John Cunningham, Engineer Manager for Starkville’s Neel-Schaffer Engineering office.
“There aren’t many tank erectors out there in the world,” said Phyllis Benson, project analyst for the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District. “It’s not like the guys who go out there and install water and sewer lines. There are very few contractors of this nature.”
The Appalachian Regional Commission provided $1 million in grant funding for the construction of the tank. Montgomery said the board’s vote brought the area “one step further along in the process” of completing the long-awaited industrial park.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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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 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Phyllis Benson, left, project analyst for the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, and John Cunningham, Engineer Manager for Starkville's Neel-Schaffer Engineering office, present the lowest bid for the construction of an elevated water tank at North Star Industrial Park. The board unanimously voted to accept the bid of $2,468,300 from Indiana-based Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors. Photo by: Tess Vrbin/Dispatch Staff
