During its regular board meeting this week, the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors received a visit from Rep. David Baria, the state house minority leader.
In his address, Baria, who has been a member of the House since 2012, asked the county lawmakers not to blame him for problems he said the legislature has been causing counties like Sunflower..
“Because I have been fighting trying to get some road and bridge money, trying to get some healthcare for our citizens and trying to fully fund public education since I’ve been down there, but my party is in the super minority and we haven’t had a whole lot of success,” he said.
Baria, a Democrat has qualified to run in the June 5 Senatorial primary election along with four other Democratic hopefuls to fill the position held by Republican Roger Wicker.
In other business,
The county lawmakers pursued a discussion on county road repair and possible funding sources.
They discussed the options of a short-term note verses issuing a bond. Attorney Johnny McWilliams told them that although the note would be the quickest way, their short-term borrowing ability was only near $1.6 million and $1.4 million of that is already in use and unless they refinance those obligations they would only have about $200,000 of borrowing capacity.
The bond procedure is a more complicated process, said McWilliams, and the costs involved in executing a $1 million bond and a $2 million bond is comparable, so his recommendation, if they were to choose that, would be, “If you’re going to issue a bond, get some money.”
He maintained that it is a good thing to borrow money to repair roads, but cautioned them to go ahead and spend it when they get it.
He suggested making a list of the roads before they issue the bonds and then execute that list. The supervisors made no decision on Monday, but scheduled a financial work session for 9 a.m., May 29 to further talk about their options. Economic Development Director Steve Shurden informed the board of a contact made through the Delta Strong initiative that has the potential of bringing in 40 to 50 new jobs. He also provided them with an update on the number of career readiness certificates issued through the Capp Center.
The officials authorized a tax-exempt status for an additional piece of land that was donated to the Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation by the City of Ruleville. Foundation President Freddie White-Johnson also requested a resolution from the board acknowledging the work and contribution of Dr. Alfio Rausa to aid health disparities in Sunflower County.
At the request of President Glenn Donald the lawmakers agreed to deed the property site of the old Life Help building at the corner of Baker and Moody streets to the South Sunflower County Hospital so it can be leveled and converted to a parking lot.
