Discussion to continue on county grant
April 1, 2012
By CARL SMITH
sdnnews@bellsouth.net
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the application process for Community Development Block Grants during its 10 a.m. meeting Monday.
A representative from the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District will be in attendance during the meeting and will join discussion.
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer said the county could seek a grant which will assist in the construction of a new county health department facility.
Members of the Oktibbeha County Health Department approached supervisors in March about the need for a new building. A letter delivered by District Administrator Karen McPherson stated a new facility would help alleviate many growth-based problems the organization is experiencing, including a lack of patient privacy through the building, fire hazards, inadequate space and a lack of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The letter encouraged supervisors to approve a CDBG grant to cover half of the estimated $1.27 million for the 8,500-square-foot facility.
CDBG grants are due in May, and matching funds would need to be secured by July.
County Road Manager Victor Collins said he expects the board to make a final selection on a bid for a new county asphalt distributor truck. The new unit will spray CRS-2 liquid asphalt and replace a two-man unit built in the 1980s.
The board opened four bids from three Mississippi companies for the distributor truck in March. The bids ranged from $134,742 to $151,037. A $146,968 bid from Empire Truck Sales of Jackson for a 2013 Freightliner truck equipped with a 24-foot spray Entyre distributor was recognized as the lowest bid after it was revealed the $134,742 bid from the same company did not meet specifications requested by the county.
The board took the bids under advisement in a previous meeting and passed them to Collins for review.
Collins will also deliver a general road report to the board, and supervisors could execute a grant application for a new backhoe.
