Building named to honor Fant

The board of supervisors celebrated the memory of the late W.R. "Bobby" Fant, longtime tax assessor/collector who set a very high standard for the office.

Martha Fant, his wife, came to the board of supervisors in January to thank them for recognizing her late husband by naming the tax office building in his honor.

"Bobby did a lot for the county a lot of people don't know about," Fant said. "He went to the Legislature to talk about the county and state."

Supervisor Keith Taylor expressed appreciation for Fant's guidance when he was first elected to the board.

"He would say, `boy, you need to do this, do that,' " Taylor said. "We do miss him."

Fant, who served as county tax assessor/collector from 1980-2003, died December 2, 2017, at age 78.

Fire service

Emergency Management director Hugh Hollowell presented an annual report to the state that makes the county eligible for reimbursement from the state for his payroll. And he got signatures to send Holly Springs Assistant Fire Chief Leland Reed to the state for training to become the arson investigator for the county. Circuit clerk

Monet Autry, new circuit clerk, visited the boardroom to advise supervisors on her duties. She will be in Jackson most of January in training for her position.

Autry said she has to open bank accounts for the circuit clerk's office. And all voting machines and equipment used in the elections are now under her care. To take over that duty, she has to get all keys in her possession and anyone going into the storage room must sign in and out.

Anyone having an account number to access the Delta Computer has to be authorized.

Lucy Carpenter, outgoing circuit clerk, has agreed to assist Autry in the transition, she said.

"It's going to be a smooth transition," Autry said.

The public address system in the courtroom is not working. A wireless public address system is being looked at.

"The public address system in the fairgrounds works real well," said zoning director Ken Jones.

That PA system is wireless.

Supervisors' report

Supervisor George Zinn III asked the board for a resolution to include the historic Rosenwald School in the county's legislative requests. The request was not approved in the 2019 session of the Legislature.

Supervisor Eddie Dixon asked the board to allow a vendor to demonstrate a vacuum truck that would pick up trash off the roadsides.

Supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett said the equipment would not pick up anything that had been made wet by rain, had been lying on the roadside for a while, or anything over in the ditches. Cups and bottles with water in them would also not be sucked up by the vacuum.

Supervisor Charles Terry reminded the board he has suggested a second chance program for people who have been in jail.

"I think we need manpower out there every day," he said.

Bennett said more has to be done to educate the public the way the nation used to be warned by Smokey The Bear. That had all but eliminated forest fires, he said.

"You never see a forest fire anymore from cigarette butts," he said.

Taylor said the county needs to prosecute people throwing out whole bags of household garbage.

"We need to prosecute the devil out of those who are doing this," he said.

Zinn said he thought he saw cattle remains after slaughter in some of the ditches.

"Some of it's deer," Taylor said.

Zinn said someone almost filled up a creek with deer off Blackwater Road.

"And fish heads," said county administrator Larry Hall. "These are isolated spots and nobody's there (to see them). We can get the game warden involved."

Zinn asked if the county has statutes that would allow giving tickets.

Jones said it is the same due process as a cleanup order. He said he gives warnings but comes back two weeks later and the roadsides around stores are all covered again with trash.

"It's just me stopping and pointing it out to them," he said. "The worst are where people are hanging out in pickups parked at the stores. The store owners have the same problem we do. People pulling up, parking and throwing out."

Taylor said most convenience stores are taking trash cans away from the gas pumps.

"Seems like it is a trend (to empty trash at the convenience stores)," he said.

Terry asked would it be right to issue a citation to a person who has a business.

"A business has an obligation to make it look like a business," he said.

Attorney Kent Smith said that would have to be put in an ordinance.

Terry made a motion to look into the prospect of an ordinance. The motion passed unanimously.