Supervisors OK dissolution plan

After the better part of a year spent trying to figure out how to best resolve a litany of financial woes and other oversight issues surrounding Southwest Mississippi Mental Health Complex Region 11, nine regional counties have determined dissolving the organization was their best option.

Attorney Bill Halford told the Franklin County Board of Supervisors — during the panel’s Monday, April 17 business session — that a recent gathering of representatives from each county in the region resulted in a resolution to dissolve Region 11.

Additionally through the proposal under consideration, the four river counties currently in Region 11 — Claiborne, Jefferson, Adams and Wilkinson — would move to become part of the Vicksburg-based Region 15, better known as Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Service.

The remaining five counties — Franklin, Amite, Pike, Walthall and Lawrence — would move to Hattiesburg-based Region 12, which is also known as Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources.

The resolution ultimately has to be approved and signed off on by the nine counties’ boards of supervisors before the process of dissolving the region can officially begin.

In addition to the decision to split the counties between Regions 12 and 15, an escrow agreement and consent regarding the sale of certain unused Region 11 real properties was drafted.
“As y’all know, Region 11 owns several properties,” Halford said.

“One is in Meadville, one is in Natchez and one is in McComb. They own property in Adams County right next to the courthouse on Wall Street. They also own the Crisis Residential Unit, which is on Jefferson Davis Boulevard in Natchez.

“The agency owns property in Claiborne County, they own property in Franklin County and they own the mental health office in Pike County. Other things are leased, whether it be from towns or counties.

“The deal is this — Region 11 is in the hole to the tune of $1.2 million. There is a pending sale on the property at 200 South Wall Street in Natchez, which is going to bring good money (and) is going to be able to satisfy some of the debt.

“There is an indebtedness on the property in Meadville, and there’s an indebtedness on the property on White Street in McComb, which is right behind Southwest hospital.

“So what we’ve come up with since that meeting is an escrow agreement and consent regarding sale of Region 11 Mental Health property.”

Halford went on to read the escrow agreement, which states the nine counties encompassed in Region 11 will sell the agency-owned property located on South Wall Street in Natchez and use that money to pay off around $80,000 owed on the region’s Meadville property and about $187,000 owed on the property in McComb.
The document also states that Pike County Chancery Clerk Rebecca J. Buie agreed to serve as the escrow agent, with the closing attorney for the sale of the Adams County property directed to deliver the net proceeds from the sale to her.

The funds will then be placed into her Chancery Clerk trust account at First Bank and used to satisfy the debts owed on the Franklin and Pike properties.

Any money left will remain in escrow to be used with the agreement of all nine counties to pay as much of the remaining debts owed by Region 11 as possible.

No funds will be disbursed from the escrow account without written consent from all nine counties and none of the proceeds from the sale will be used by Region 11 for operations.

In addition, any interest earned on the funds will be added to the escrowed funds.

“We hope and pray that that sale goes through,” he said.

“The thought behind this thing is to make sure that money doesn’t go to Region 11. That money goes into escrow and to make sure the Franklin County indebtedness is satisfied and the Pike County indebtedness is satisfied.

“The thing about it is, some of that debt (from what) we understand is old and probably barred by the statute of limitations.”

Halford also said representatives of the nine counties are once again seeking to hire accountant Chuck Lambert — who recently completed a financial audit of Region 11 — to look at the debts owed by the organization and determine which debts need to be paid and which can be written off based on the statute of limitations.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to sign the escrow agreement and to hire Lambert to look further into Region 11’s debts.

In other action during the meeting, supervisors also conducted the following business:

• Approved paying Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance in the amounts of $250 for a $50,000 bond on Deputy Sheriff Bubba Gabbert and $175 for a $50,000 bond on Deputy Tax Assessor-Collector Katrina Littleton.

• Gave approval to pay several invoices from WGK Engineers — $1,000 for updating the county maps; $2,178 for professional services undertaken on issues on Bill Lofton Road and the bridge in Bude; and $705 for professional services rendered on reseal issues along nine county roads.

The invoiced amount for the bridge in Bude will be paid from the town’s tax funds, which are kept by the county.

• Heard that Monday, April 24 is a holiday for county workers and county offices will be closed.

The board’s next regular business meeting will be held at 9 a.m., Monday, May 1 at the courthouse on Main Street in Meadville.