Sunflower County’s roadsides might look a little more trimmed in 2018.
In an attempt to assist county road workers in maintaining manicured roadsides, the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors, at its last meeting, voted to allow Chem Pro Services, a Florida-based company with offices in Madison, to treat several miles of state aid roads within the county with an herbicide to kill weeds along the edges.
Company representative Michael Schuhmann told the county decision makers that the spraying would cost $84 per mile, which included both sides of the road. The board decided to do two test applications on 50 miles of county roads, equating to approximately 10 miles in each district, at a cost of $4,200 per application.
Schuhmann plans to do the initial applications in March and then again around June or July depending on the weather. The testing periods will give the county time to see how the program works, how the company operates and what it does plus the benefit of the herbicide applications.
Schuhmann and the supervisors said they were not laboring under the belief that the treatments would eliminate the need for cutting the grass but it was uniformly believed that the herbicide applications would greatly enhance the cutting process by reducing the amount of weeds and thereby preserving equipment.
According to County Engineer Ron Cassada, Sunflower County has always had the service available, but has never used it.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said.
Supervisor Dennis Holmes also agreed.
“I have been saying it for the last three or four years, we need to get on a program doing that,” Holmes said.
Although Schuhmann’s presentation was originally introduced to cover just state aid roads, he said other county roads could be included if the supervisors preferred. Chem Pro was the low-bidder on the state’s annual supply bid contract.
In other business,
Cassada gave the board an extensive rundown on the status of the county’s closed bridges and the bridges that were programmed for replacement or repair. Several will remain closed for various reasons including a lack of funding.
“Ya’ll have just about maxed out your bridge fund. You’ve got a little left,” he said.
He told the county lawmakers that with the current contingencies they have used approximately $1.1 million and they had originally estimated $1.15 million. County Administrator Gloria McIntosh told the supervisors that the $796,000 the county had in the bridge reserve fund has been used up also.
Cassada did mention the new Senate bond bill that Lt. Governor Tate Reeves announced on Feb. 19 and called it a positive step. He said that the bill is focused around counties and municipalities.
“It’s a move in the right direction,” he said.
He cautioned that the bill would still have to pass the House of Representatives.
The supervisors discussed erecting a storage warehouse to secure and protect the Sunflower Search and Rescue Unit’s equipment. They will review two quotes on constructing a structure at their meeting the first Monday in March.
The supervisors heard a presentation on the Delta Dreams program and a financial literacy workshop from coordinator Alexis Hines. Participation in the program requires attendance in a five-week class for two hours per session.
Voted to extend a tax abatement to Maple Campbell, CEO Platinum Plus Care, llc, contingent upon the City of Indianola agreeing to offer her the ad valorem reduction. The officials told Campbell that they could only grant abatements if the city did so first. Economic Development Director Steve Shurden informed her and the board that she or anyone making such a request would have to submit an application because the law states that a formal written request must be made.
Campbell appeared before the supervisors to make a verbal request for her business that opened in April 2017.
She explained that her company has already supplied 11 full-and-part-time jobs for local citizens and expects to create 11 more positions in the next few months with the opening of the second phase of her venture plus they utilize local vendors.
“So it’s not that I’m coming out asking something and not giving in return,” Campbell said.
That discussion sparked another issue regarding Surresh Chawla and the Hampton Inn property.
The board declined to retroactively grant a reduction of the hotel’s previous year’s taxes, but said it would moving forward if they got his written application.
President Glenn Donald said they could not allow a reduction for the previous year because there was no official request.
It appears that around the time of construction the city granted the hotel a 7-year tax reduction and the county agreed to mirror that abatement, contingent upon the owner making a written request, but apparently Chawla never submitted the application.
At that time, according to Shurden, Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams sent the hotel owner a letter informing him that a written request was needed, but to date, Chawla still has not submitted one.
Planters Bank submitted the only bid to become the county’s deposits and investments institution for the next two years and the board agreed to accept it.
