Bridge work proceeds

Marshall County is moving forward on the replacement of the bridge on Battle Road.

The road and bridge department removed six or eight bridge slabs from the east end of the Tippah River Bridge, according to Mario Jeffries, road manager.

The bridge pilings are being driven and the slabs, which the Mississippi Department of Transportation is giving the county, will be installed after the pilings are in, Jeffries said.

Century Construction, the contractor for the Battle Road bridge replacement, submitted pay request #1 for $411,461 and the board approved payment of the claim.

There is movement in several projects in the county.

Paperwork for the sewer project in the Hyline Drive area of Marshall County is moving forward.

Permits for installation of cable requested by AT&T, Comcast, and C-Spire were approved. All companies are pushing to get their services improved and extended to the new areas of development in the industrial north, according to Larry Britt, county engineer.

The board approved a request from Marshall County Water to tie a 6-inch water line into a 12-inch water line in the area of North Red Banks Road north of Taska Road. The service will supply water to the area of the old Loftin Place.

A Tribble Road project is under development.

A plan to extend Del Stover Road in the area of Cooper Tire, Amazon and Kelloggs all the way up to Highway 72 is moving forward, Britt said. Rights-of-way plans are ready.

District 4 supervisor George Zinn III asked about progress on raising the Blackwater Road bridge.

Britt said a request to the Corps of Engineers has been in the works for two years. An environmental study will also involve obtaining wetland mitigation first.

Work to repair the French Road bridge is underway. Rights-of-way easements must

be obtained from a church in the vicinity.

In election commission news, commissioner Marsha Taylor reported that a suitable polling place is still being sought for the Early Grove Precinct and the Hudsonville Precinct.

Both polling places lack running water.

She suggested the county try to purchase a spot of land behind the store at Early Grove for a permanent polling place. This would clear the way for not having to make special arrangements with the store owner each election to use the facility at Early Grove precinct.

“Could we propose to get to the back of the land and buy it?” Taylor asked. “If we could get something permanent, we wouldn’t have to go through this every (election) time.”

District 5 supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett said the precinct needs to be located close to the existing road.

“Early Grove Precinct might be merged with another precinct, but older voters do not want to have to go further away,” Taylor said. “If the county could own these spots we wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent.”

She said poll workers are reluctant to use restrooms in convenience stores. Up to now, they have been using the facilities in a poll worker’s home, she said.

The county owns the Hudsonville Precinct property, but there are problems there as well. There is a county-rented dumpster at the precinct that is running over with recycled materials.

“It’s awful,” Taylor said. “Since the county owns the land, we need lighting and water. The building is fine.”

Bennett said a request for the upgrade should be put in writing.

Emergency Management coordinator Leland Reed appeared before the board where supervisor George Zinn III asked for a fast track on getting a fire truck for the new Medic #4 substation at Chulahoma Community Center property.

Reed said fire chiefs agreed upon the order of providing new fire engines - the first to go to Potts Camp, then next to Waterford Fire Department, and then to Chulahoma.

Reed said he has an idea he would present in executive session on how to get something for Chulahoma.

In other business, the board:

• discussed a Knox Lock Box to go at the jail due to a request from the fire marshal. The box contains a key so firefighters can gain access to a facility when it is closed.

• discussed having an outside contractor hook up a 2-inch water line to a 4-inch water meter for a price of $4,895.

• approved pay request #19 for $408,954 from Dean and Dean Architects to pay a contractor for work at the new jail construction site. There is close to $1 million left in contingencies, according to county administrator Tim Powell.

• discussed the need to resolve the size of a transformer installed by the Holly Springs Utility Department at the new jail. The transformer HSUD installed is smaller than the one called for in the architectural plan, Powell said. Supervisors worry the transformer may not supply the power needed to operate the new facility.

“My concern is, did we get what we paid for?” asked District 1 supervisor Charles Terry.

Bennett also expressed concern about possible failure of the power supply.

• approved lease purchase of two Dodge Durangos for $74,000 for the sheriff’s department.

• opened bids on supplies for asphalt and other materials.

• discussed a crushed culvert at 649 Tunstall Road. Zinn aired complaints that the surface of Tunstall Road is not satisfactory. A portion of the road is kept up by the Town of Byhalia and the rest by Marshall County.

• received a letter of appreciation from ICS Head Start for $46,851 the county supplied this year for a school bus.

• learned from chancery clerk Nicole Phelps the county claims docket came to $588,244.