Bridge repairs sought

Bude Ward 3 Alderman Jillian Dunmore and municipal public works employees Elvia Brown and Jeremy Flowers approached the Franklin County Board of Supervisors on Monday, March 7 regarding the status of a small wooden bridge in their community.

The structure — known as the “Billy Goat Bridge” — is in need of extensive repairs and Dunmore questioned whether such improvements would need to be undertaken by the town or county.

District 3 Supervisor Mike “Dirt” Hunt, who district includes Bude, said the bridge is located within the town’s corporate limits and the municipality would be responsible for repairs.

Hunt also said he had talked to the county’s engineer, Mike McKenzie, at an earlier date and McKenzie had given him a recommendation of how to fix the bridge along with a price estimate.

Hunt indicated he had given the information to Bude’s Board of Aldermen at that time.

He went on to say the town would need to have its engineering firm — Dungan Engineering — look at the bridge, as well, and ultimately advertise for bids for the project.

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board revisited the topic of whether or not to pave Middleton Creek Road.

The original plan for the project was to put down six inches of clay-gravel and top that with several inches of pavement, while the other option being considered would call for placing eight inches of clay-gravel and topping that with crushed limestone.

Price-wise, there was roughly a $40,000 to $45,000 difference between the two options.

District 5 Supervisor Jimmie “Bodi” Bass, who serves as president of the board and in whose district the road lies, asked McKenzie if the two options were structurally equivalent.

“The pavement is going to be way better than just 6 inches of crushed limestone,” McKenzie responded.

The board voted unanimously to stick with the original plan and recover the road with asphalt as opposed to placing crushed limestone.

In other action, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors:

• Voted to send The Office of State Aid Roads a request to program Sullivan Road Bridge as a future Local System Bridge Program project.

• Heard from Mark Thornton, Franklin County’s Emergency Management-Homeland Security director, about placing the county under a burn ban due to dry conditions that have elevated the area’s wildfire risk.

Thornton noted numerous fires had been reported in the county and throughout Southwest Mississippi as limited rainfall, low humidity and high winds have created a dangerous situation.

The board approved putting a burn ban in place beginning Monday March 7. The measure will continue through at least Monday, April 4, if conditions fail to improve.

• Accepted Constable Dewayne Whetstone’s annual financial report as presented.

The panel also approved travel for Whetstone to attend the Mississippi Constables Association 2022 convention and training seminar.

• Approved paying $1,139.59 to Walter Beesley for collecting $5,733.25 in Justice Court fines for February.

• Spread upon the minutes a certificate of attendance for Gladys Wilcher, who took part in a mandatory Justice Court clerk’s continuing education session.

• Announced that the second public hearing regarding the post-Census redistricting of Franklin County will be held at 2 p.m., Monday, March 14 in the second-floor courtroom in Meadville.

Maps of proposed boundary line changes for the county’s elected offices will be presented during the session with public input being sought before a final redistricting plan is adopted.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors will hold its next regular business meeting at 9 a.m., Monday, March 21 at the courthouse.

Sessions of the board are open to the public.