The Leflore County Board of Supervisors likely will contribute $107,600 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the town of Schlater to help with a sewage project.
The board heard on Monday from Parker Berry, a representative of the Ridgeland-based Butler Snow law firm, regarding the appropriate use of the pandemic relief funds, and he said Schlater’s sewage project did fall under eligible use.
The board voted to move forward with the supplement while paperwork is drawn up and submitted to Butler Snow. The board retained Butler Snow for legal counsel regarding ARPA spending at the end of June.
The board is supposed to receive documents from the town
for approval and submission to Butler Snow at the next board meeting on Aug. 22.
In June, Tommy Gregory, a Greenwood consultant, asked the board for the allocation in order to supplement matching funds required by another federal grant.
The $342,800 project is designed to revamp the town’s sewage system to bring it up to the standards of the Mississippi Department of Enviromental Quality.
The board also approved 10-year property tax exemptions for Viking Range and Milwaukee Tool.
Viking asked for the exemption based on an expansion that added 35 jobs with an estimated payroll of $1.5 million. Also added were $2.4 million worth of machinery and equipment and $46.3 million in raw materials.
Milwaukee Tool’s exemption covers the addition of more than $4.2 million in machinery and equipment.
The board tabled a discussion concerning the continued issuance of monthly payroll checks for a youth court defense attorney after she no longer held that job.
The attorney, Katie Mills, never received the checks, and they were not deposited.
County Court Judge Kevin Adams, whose duties include serving as youth court judge, sent a letter dated June 27 to the board. The letter said he told the board during a meeting on July 6, 2021, that Mills had resigned effective June 30, 2021.Until last week, Mills had been working as executive director of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta.
However, 11 months checks for $1,494 each were still issued by the county and placed in Mills’ former mailbox in the courthouse, where they sat until recently.
The board also discussed the function of sirens in the county. Currently, no emergency sirens are working due to a computer malfunction, District 1 Supervisor Sam Abraham said.
The board took no official action but requested that a professional be brought in to service the computer before the Aug. 22 board meeting. This is on top of the existing issue of siren malfunctions in the county, including the need for new parts or total replacement of some sirens.
Shane Correro, county engineer, also reported to the board that lights have been installed on Viking Road to improve visibility. The county will be responsible for the $96.18 per month bill for this service, he said.
The board approved this expense.
The county also received word that it has been approved for a $50,000 state grant for waste tire disposal.
The board also discussed working with the Rising Sun community to make neighborhood improvements such as ensuring grass gets cut and dilapidated houses are upgraded to meet codes .
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
