The Sunflower County Board of Supervisors is in possession of a more than $2 million windfall with the potential for more money to come their way because of the American Rescue Plan Act.
The issue at hand now is what to do with it.
The federal government has issued guidelines on COVID relief spending criteria, and the county leaders met on Monday for a round table discussion on the potential uses for the funds.
Based on the guidelines presented by the federal government, Chancery Clerk Gloria McIntosh had compiled a list of categories and potential projects and presented those ideas to the county leaders.
Those suggestions, plus others, were discussed at length during the roundtable, and Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams advised that whatever plans they decided upon needed to be submitted quickly because of an impending deadline.
"October 31st, you've got to present a plan about how you intend to spend the money," McWilliams said.
He advised them to consider taking care of some of the issues that have plagued the county for many years that have been neglected due to tight budgets.
McIntosh stressed that her list contained only ideas for possible use and not recommendations.
One of the main categories was relative to the support of public health expenditures, which include the purchase of personal protection equipment, payment for testing and support for prevention, litigation or other services.
One of the most widely discussed topics was ventilation improvements in key settings.
Vaccination programs, mental health treatments, substance misuse treatments, crisis intervention, capital investments in public facilities to meet pandemic operational needs, medical expenses, contact tracing, enhancement of health care capacities including alternative care facilities, payroll and other items benefiting standards for public health, human services and public safety spaces primarily dedicated to COVID-19 response were also a part of McIntosh’s list.
She also included a list of possible things the county could do, including repay itself for all PPE purchases that were not reimbursed and pay any future expenses including masks, hand sanitizer and other items.
The county could also pay the salaries and benefits for the sheriff’s department and jail employees, plus, pay the same for the EMA director. The funds could also be used to reimburse the county for office rental fees paid for the accounting employees and the election commissioners in addition to allocating funds to pay rental costs for an additional 12 months.
It was also suggested that funds could be used to clean and renovate the upper floor of the courthouse to house the accounting department and election commissioners, plus repair the elevator for access to the upstairs.
District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson mentioned that all of McIntosh's suggestions regarding health were for internal use and would likely take up a major portion of the $2 million and not leave much for external projects.
They discussed several options and spaces that could benefit from improvements in the health environment and Gaston suggested that if they were going to consider replacing ventilation air filters that they do it for all county buildings and not just the courthouse.
An array of projects were discussed, but no final decisions were made on any of the suggestions.
In other business,
The lawmakers voted to rehire deputy Brady Thompson as a deputy sheriff for the Chancery Court, contingent upon him passing all of the necessary pre-employment requirements.
The lawmakers were introduced to Tracy Fratesi, the new director of the Chamber of Commerce by Economic Development representative Sheila Waldrup.
They also voted to reappoint Sunflower Mayor Desiree Norwood to the Mississippi Delta Community College board of trustees.
Additionally, at the request of County Administrator Fred Washington, the county leaders received and approved the purchase of the county's second garbage truck for a total cost of $30,000 including an added-on tipper and the cost to transport the truck from Texas.
They also voted to hire a truck driver at $15 per hour pending successful completion of pre-employment requirements including a physical.
