County leaders look at process to start post-Census redistricting

Following the recent federal 2020 decennial Census count of Franklin County’s population, local leaders will now be tasked in the year to come with redistricting in advance of future elections.

Attorney Bill Halford, who represents the Franklin County Board of Supervisors, broached the subject during the group’s regular business meeting held on Monday, Dec.6.

“The process takes place every decade following the Census and is important in setting boundary lines for everything from supervisors’ districts to school board and constable posts in the county,” Halford said.

“There is certain data that we will need to compile to submit to those helping with the process to make sure we are taking the steps needed to be as accurate as possible.”

Federal Census information shows Franklin County’s current population stands at 7,675 — a decline of roughly 5.5 percent when compared to the previous tally conducted 10 years ago.

The local population in 2010 was reported at 8,118.

Halford indicated most counties in Southwest Mississippi had seen a drop in their overall populations reported through the Census — ranging from a low of 2.75 percent in Lincoln County to a high of 15 percent in Wilkinson County.

“These totals not only impact our elections, but are used to calculate federal assistance programs made available to every county,” he added. “We will have quite a bit of work to do in terms of putting our numbers together and doing what we are required to do.”

Census data showed only 17 of Mississippi’s 82 counties actually gained population during the 2020 tally.

Magnolia State lawmakers will also face redistricting issues during the upcoming regular legislative session, which will begin next month in Jackson.

They will be tasked with generating boundaries for state and federal elected offices with an eye toward establishing balanced population representation for all Senate and House-elected positions.

Those decisions will impact Mississippi’s four U.S. House seats along with 174 state legislative districts involving both the senate and house.

In other considerations before the five-member panel on Dec. 6, the board took the following actions:

• Noted bids for highly anticipated repairs to the roof of Franklin County’s Mississippi State University Extension Service office building on Walnut Street in Meadville were scheduled to be opened at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 14.

Board President Jimmie “Bodi” Bass said he anticipated the panel would potentially review the bid submissions as early as its next regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 20.

“We will not hold a special called meeting for this (bid opening), but will take it up when we meet again to do other business,” Bass said. “I think we all want to allow for the time to see if the bids we get do what needs to be done and are in a workable price range.”

Halford said the county’s engineer — Mike McKenzie — would review any bids that were received to make certain they were in line with the scope of the work necessary to address the structure’s needs before supervisors took any action.

“We need to be comparing apples to apples with a project of this importance,” District 4 Supervisor Pat Larkin said.

Supervisors are seeking to address problems with the building’s leaky flat roof, which is causing considerable damage to the ceilings, walls and floors of the structure that houses the Extension Service office and the Franklin County museum.

During previous meetings, McKenzie noted problems included water standing on top of the building after rain events and flashing on the west side of the structure that was actually higher than the roof.

This week’s action comes nine months after District 2 Supervisor Henry “Eddie” Stebbins characterized the roof problems as potentially catastrophic.

“We’re fixing to lose that building,” Stebbins said during a late February supervisors meeting, and he pushed for a solution to the issue.

• Voted to advertise to seek bids for a variety of products and services for county use during calendar year 2022.

The board will seek submissions from suppliers for a variety of needs including: Motor oils, greases and lubrication products for county vehicles; hot and cold asphalt and oil mixes along with hauling and spreading services; financial institutions to serve as depositories for county funds; and bridge-related materials such as treated lumber, poles and pilings, concrete bridge slabs and accessories, crushed stone and rip-rap, culverts, heavy equipment with or without an operator and pile driving services.

Bids are slated to be opened at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 18 after being advertised in The Franklin Advocate on Thursday, Dec. 16 and Thursday, Dec. 23.

Editor’s note: The county’s bid notifications appear on Page A7 in today’s edition of this newspaper.

Supervisors will next meet at 9 a.m., Monday, Dec. 20 at the Franklin County Courthouse on Main Street in Meadville.