The issue of equipment being given to other counties under the watch of former Sheriff Alex Hodge was solved during the Jones County Board of Supervisors’ second meeting of the month on January 21.
During their first meeting, newly elected Beat 2 Supervisor T. Larry Dykes brought up the issue toward the end of the meeting.
“I would like this new board to address the items that’s been removed from the sheriff’s office and given to other agencies; how many of the items were given, the amount of the items and who authorized these items to be given to these agencies. From what I understand, it was not the board of supervisors.”
After hearing Dykes, the supervisors approved sending a letter to agencies in other counties that received items for the return of the property.
Once again, at the end of the meeting on January 21, Dykes brought the issue up again and asked, “Have we had any correspondence back on the equipment that belongs to Jones County?”
Sheriff Joe Berlin responded, “All the stuff has been returned; it was returned before that first meeting I found out. It’s back.”
In other matters brought before the supervisors, Jones County Superintendent of Education Tommy Parker addressed the board and asked for assistance in locating a new campus facility for the administration offices and other departments that have outgrown their present facility located on Highway 11 South.
“As most of you know, it’s the responsibility of the board of supervisors to provide the superintendent of education with an office.”
Parker said their present facility is the former DHS building, which was built in 1962.
“According to our board minutes, they renovated that building, added some rooms to it. I think they wanted to have a warehouse and purchasing department,” said Parker.
He said after the renovations, they moved into the building in 1982 and have occupied that building since then. The building has 6,300 square feet. There have been six portable buildings added all around them to house various departments.
He pointed out that there are 9,000 students in the county schools and 1,250 full-time employees. All documents and records are stored on the campus, and they are running out of room. In addition, they rent two storage buildings in Ellisville to store documents.
When it rains, Parker said there is one to two inches of water that surrounds the building. One of the two restrooms will not work when it rains.
“We have to wade water to get into the building when it rains,” said Parker. “Since August, we have removed two snakes from the building.”
“We appeal to the board of supervisors to start the process to help us find a place to conduct our business and store our records in a safe place. A new building would be great, but that may be unrealistic.”
Board President Johnny Burnett responded to Parker by saying they would select a committee to address the issue.
Jones County Coroner Burl Hall addressed the board and said the requirements of the coroner’s office have changed, noting that the coroners are being asked to do a lot more. The coroners are now under the Medical Examiner’s Office and have to be recertified. They are now referred to as medical examiner investigators. Hall asked the supervisors to consider moving the MEI office to wherever the morgue is going to be located. He also expressed a need for another vehicle.
Jones County Fire Coordinator Kyle Brooks addressed the board concerning the report of the State Insurance Rating Bureau. Brooks said Jones County presently has a Class 8 rating and is only a few points away from a Class 7 rating. After communicating with the bureau, he discovered a couple of things that have not been done in the past. One is that the county’s SOG’s that were established in 2011 must be reapproved. And, although the fire departments conduct water shuttle exercises yearly, it was not known that they had to be witnessed by the rating bureau. Brooks has developed a two-month plan that he says will satisfy the requirements of the rating bureau and bring the county rating down to a
Class 7, which will decrease the cost of insurance for homeowners in the county.
The board voted to pay for the upgrade of two fields at Merchants Park at an approximate cost of $25,000, and the work will be awarded to the lowest and best bid.
The following people were appointed to the Parks and Recreation Board: Cory Dykes, Jerry (J.J.) Cooley, Kirk Landrum, and Mark Loftin. Supervisors appointees to serve on the South Mississippi Planning and Development District include David Scruggs (county liaison) and Travares Comegys (Twin Districts Workforce). Petey Burnett was nominated to serve from the private sector, and Larry Thomas was nominated to serve from the minority sector.
The Board of Supervisors meets twice a month on the first and third Monday of every month at 9:30 a.m. Each meeting on even-numbered months and all third Monday meetings are held at the Laurel Courthouse. The first meeting on odd-numbered months is held at the Ellisville Courthouse.