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County account hit with check forgery By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | Photo by Sue Watson
Forged checks
Chancery
clerk Chuck Thomas displays the forged checks during the board of
supervisors meeting. At left is supervisor Eddie Dixon; at right is
supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett; in back is Susie Hill. |
One
of the bank accounts held by Marshall County took a hit from an
individual who married the account and routing number with an innocent
victim’s identity and cashed two checks - both in stores in the
Memphis/Germantown area. The total charged in the
forgery to the county’s account came to about $200, according to
chancery clerk Chuck Thomas. One check was used for a purchase at a
Kroger store and the other at a Walgreens, he said. Thomas
said his clerks caught the forged checks quickly and the outstanding
checks on the account are being cleared by hand at First State Bank to
assure no more fraudulent checks are cleared through the account.
Sheriff’s investigators are working on the incident. The losses from
the fraudulent checks are covered by bank insurance, so the county is
protected, he said. “We appreciate the timely and
professional way that the sheriff’s department undertook this
investigation and the speedy manner in which it was handled,” Thomas
said. Supervisors discussed the matter at last
week’s meeting while revisiting some old business that has not yet been
settled, including: • dealing with loose pigs in
a subdivision in District 3. Zoning director Conway Moore said a
resident has pigs and horses and other animals but the pigs have been
on the loose and rooting up neighbors’ lawns. Supervisors authorized
attorney Kent Smith to ask the court for a temporary restraining order
that would force the livestock owner to keep his pigs penned. The problem has been ongoing for several months, according to supervisor Keith Taylor. •
discussed sewage problems in District 2. Moore said a resident has
removed a leaking hot water tank but that has not solved the problem of
sewage spilling from old lines in a sewage treatment system installed
in a subdivision on the south side of Highway 72. Residents
are getting impatient with the problem of sewage leaks in their
neighborhood, but supervisors are working diligently to get funding to
provide sewage service to the subdivisions. Smith said construction on
the sewage system could begin in the spring if funding is found for the
project this fall. “We are encouraging them to be patient and they can put up levies,” he said. Some residents had dumped loads of dirt to keep sewage from running into their yards. •
learned from IDA director Bill Mobley that some burning of trash on
property on Quality Drive in the Chickasaw Trails Industrial Park
involved trash that was being brought in from Tennessee. The
individuals were warned not to continue the activity. Construction of Mt. Carmel Road in the industrial park is about complete, Mobley said. “They have done a ton of work and it is coming along real good,” he said. “We hope to have it paved by Thanksgiving.” •
approved a permit for AT&T to work on county right-of-way on South
Red Banks Road. The board also authorized waiving a permit fee for
AT&T to work in Mt. Pleasant. • heard county
engineer Larry Britt reassure supervisors that the redistricting plan
and process will be faced once the population distribution data from
the U.S. Census Bureau is available for Marshall County. Britt’s company helped draw up the redistricting plan for the county in 1991, he said. •
discussed programming Old Highway 4 West for road improvements. Britt
said the LSRP system may have money to help rehabilitate the road. If
bridge work is included, the project would have to be put under State
Aid and much more money would have to be found to do the work because
of state specifications, he said. • planned for
fall clean-up. The board may schedule one clean-up period or split the
clean-up into two time periods, one near Halloween and the other around
the New Year, said Larry Hall. The cost to rent roll-off dumpsters was
a concern. • approved just over $209,000 in claims. •
heard a report from the sheriff’s department on the need to sell 14
surplus vehicles with high mileage. Six seized vehicles are also for
sale. Supervisors discussed carrying the vehicles to an auction in the
Delta where there will be more buyers and the cars will bring more
money. Speaking on behalf of Sheriff Kenny
Dickerson, Jimmy Warren said, “We are appreciative of what the board
has done. We are trying to keep all our people in good cars. We are
building the fleet up. We don’t know where we would be without grant
money. The sheriff has put in place good policy and good administrative
practice out there.” • learned from Hall that an
intense search for funds for the sewer extension project to Cayce
Road/Highway 72 mobile home parks is being pursued with Rural
Development and the Department of Environmental Quality. |
