Old fire truck goes to Chulahoma

A short-term fix to providing a fire truck to the new Medic #4 substation in Chulahoma was solved by the board of supervisors at the Nov. 2 board of supervisors meeting.

Fire Service Coordinator Leland Reed recommended a 2002 pumper truck, already in the county inventory, go to Chulahoma until a new truck has been purchased. The truck has been sitting outside at the fire department at Red Banks. It leaks but runs well.

District 4 supervisor George Zinn III asked Reed what it will cost to refurbish the truck. Reed had estimated it could cost up to $80,000 to refurbish the unit. The truck has to be filled about every week or so due to leaks, he said. It runs good, he said.

The fire chiefs association decided to let the truck go to the Chulahoma Fire Department for now, Reed said.

Zinn said he thought the old truck would be rotated among the rural fire departments in the county.

“If you’re going to use it as a rotational truck it needs to be a rated truck,” Reed said.

District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor wanted to keep the truck and use what money is available – the $14,000 annually to each rural fire department to go for essentials such as turnout gear.

“If the truck is operational now, I would prefer to use the money for turnout gear and radios first,” Taylor said.

“That truck was set aside for some reason,” Zinn said. “I understand the other departments need gear.” Taylor said he is not against spending money on a truck, but the county just set its new fiscal year budget. The 2002 truck could be used as a backup unit until the county can get a new truck, he said.

“To me safety of personnel is the more important thing,” he said. “If we have firemen who don’t have certified gear, we need to keep them safe, if the Red Banks truck would be sufficient.”

Rodney Bell, fire chief at the Red Banks Fire Department, said the truck is still operational and can still be used to fight fires. He said it takes a week and a half for the water to leak out of the unit before the truck has to be refilled.

Red Banks has two sets of turnout gear and six certified firefighters, Bell said.

Reed said the Wyatt Chulahoma area has the lowest call volume in the area.

“The biggest thing is water capacity,” he said.

District 1 supervisor Charles Terry said it is important to get something for Medic #4. The new substation in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park will need equipment as well, he said.

“It is hard to entice volunteers,” Terry said. “What’s my concern is if the truck is operational.”

Clean-up hearings

Zoning administrator Ken Jones and board attorney Amanda Whaley Smith conducted several public hearings on cleanup orders.

They included:

• a hearing on a clean-up order at 1092 Wildcat Bottom Road. There were piles of brush and several unlicensed, inoperable autos on the property. The board approved adjudication of the clean-up and a bid from Barrett Ash Landscaping for $800 to do the cleanup.

• a clean-up at 406 Mitten Road. The property was reported cleaned up and no further action was required.

• 90 Cedar Woods Drive involving the estate of Julia Green. The case involved violation of living quarters. Two RV campers on the property are being used for living quarters.

“You can’t live in an RV, unless it is in a RV Park,” Jones said.

“Even if it’s on your own property?” asked one of the inhabitants. “No income. Where am I supposed to live?”

District 1 supervisor Charles Terry said the house on the place burned three years ago.

“It’s something we have to rectify especially when you get neighbors complaining,” Terry said. “We can’t just ignore it when you get complaints. It’s a matter of a violation. Someone needs to do something. It’s been ignored for three years.”

Terry said the issues are there are two travel trailers on one lot and secondly that travel trailers are not allowed to be lived in.

“We need some help,” said Elsa Green.

Terry said the matter could be put off until January.

Board attorney Amanda Whaley Smith said a special exception can be granted for a hardship. The house burned. The special exception is only good for six months, she said.

Taylor made a motion to give the residents until January to find some help or a place to stay. The motion passed by unanimous vote of the board.

• 943 Duck Pond Road. The clean-up involved cutting grass and removal of trash and debris. The board approved a motion that the property was in need of clean up. Barrett Ash Landscaping submitted a bid for $800 and the board approved the bid to clean up the property

In other business, the board of supervisors”

• approved a motion to get quotes for a public address system in the courtroom in the courthouse. The fans on the heating and cooling system make so much noise that the judges can’t hear court proceedings, said circuit clerk Monet Autry.

• learned that a trustee on the Marshall County Library Board has resigned. Jane Heineke resigned after six years service.

• approved a motion to allow the county engineer to study the intersection at Moore Road and Rabbit Ridge Road to see if it should be widened for safety.

• approved an allotment for Davis Temple Food Pantry be issued.

• authorized release of the sheriff’s departmental budget for the first quarter of 2024.

• approved travel for Mark Kapley to attend Mississippi Crime Stoppers training.

• approved claims for $138,292.

• authorized travel for Tim Powell to attend the Mississippi Broadband Conference.

• renewed a contract with IBM for maintenance of the county’s AS400 server.