The Leflore County Board of Supervisors has appointed its president to sit in on continued negotiations with the University of Mississippi Medical Center over the proposed lease of Greenwood Leflore Hospital.
The board took the action Monday following a 50-minute closed-door meeting with Gary Marchand, the hospital’s interim CEO.
The hospital board, which meets Tuesday, has been evaluating a proposal submitted by UMMC for a long-term lease of the financially troubled Greenwood hospital. Robert Collins, who presides over the Board of Supervisors, has been asked to represent the county in future meetings between the hospital board and UMMC.
The hospital is owned jointly by the county and the city of Greenwood. Any lease would have to be approved by the Board of Supervisors and the Greenwood City Council, as well as by the state College Board, which oversees UMMC.
The supervisors also discussed in executive session a proposed consultant but took no action.
Additionally, the board approved contracting with Neysha Sanders to provide legal counsel to the supervisors when Board Attorney Joyce Chiles is unavailable. Chiles has missed several board meetings this year due to illness or participated by conference call. The last meeting she attended, on Sept. 6, she used a wheelchair and was assisted by an attendant. Sanders began work with the board at Monday’s meeting.
District 3 Supervisor Anjuan Brown provided an update on the Down Payment Assistance Program provided through Mississippi Home Corporation (HomeCorp). The county is participating in the program that helps low-income residents purchase or build homes by providing $14,000 toward the down payment, split evenly between HomeCorp and the county.
The board is using North Central Planning and Development District to distribute the funds. Other counties have authorized HomeCorp to handle the distribution, Brown said.
Also, the supervisors:
- Voted to rezone retroactively a mobile home park on Elzy Avenue from single-family to multi-family structures. The mobile home park has been in existence for at least 30 years, according to county officials. The rezoning was necessary because an investor, Sims Investment Properties LLC, wants to lease out lots in the mobile home park.
- Approved minutes from meetings on May 10 and May 18 and tabled the approval of additional meeting minutes pending board review.
- Authorized the hiring of a driver and mechanic to fill vacancies in the Solid Waste Department.
- Approved changes to the 2021 personal property tax roll to reflect the value of some items that had been originally left off the roll.
- Approved the deletion of inoperable or obsolete inventory from the fixed asset report maintained by the county inventory clerk.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
