The Jones County Board of Supervisors met in Laurel for just over an hour Monday morning, tackling issues related to the recent storm damage and COVID-19 and also setting a date to meet with business representatives to discuss requiring permits for heavy trucks traveling county roads.
The supervisors reviewed a request from Chancery Court to implement some safety measures before that court resumes in June. Two examples of the steps the supervisors may take include installing temporary plexi-glass shields to limit interaction between individuals in the courtroom and hiring medical personnel to take the temperature of people entering the courtroom, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Board Attorney and County Administrator Danielle Ashley said the county feels good about the expense of such precautions being reimbursed through FEMA, although Jones County Emergency Operations Center Director Paul Sheffield added that whatever measures are adopted must not damage the courthouse, which is considered a historical building. If any safety measures installed harm the building, FEMA may refuse to reimburse the county’s expenses.
On a storm-related topic, the board agreed to advertise for the services of a debris monitoring company to be kept on an annual retainer in order to expedite the clean-up process for future disasters. Sheffield told the board that if such a contract had been in place when the storms hit recently, “We would have been picking up debris three weeks ago.” Such a contract would allow the county to immediately activate the debris monitoring services instead of going through the weeks-long process of procuring such services in the midst of a disaster.
The proposals for the annual services are due by companies to the county by June 15, and the contract will likely run from July 1 to June 30 each year.
Permits for Heavy Trucks
The supervisors then spent the bulk of their meeting time Monday discussing what criteria should be implemented in a permit process for companies to run heavy trucks through Jones County. The supervisors first broached this subject months ago but have been moving cautiously through subsequent discussions in an attempt to balance the interests of the county with the welfare of local businesses.
Ashley, who has studied permit guidelines used by other counties, advised the board members that the county cannot single out any particular group of haulers, like loggers for example. The new requirements, when adopted, will affect heavy trucks hauling a variety of different goods for market, including loggers, feed trucks, live haul poultry trucks, gravel trucks and oilfield service haulers.
Once the supervisors adopt the new permit qualifications, companies operating heavy trucks in Jones County will likely need to take video footage of the roadways they use to support any claims they make of not damaging county roads. Jones County will also likely make video recordings of roads before and after use by heavy trucks.
The new permit process possibly will be based on load ratings and could also require that the hauler submit a certificate of insurance. If the hauler damages a Jones County roadway, the company or its insurance provider would be responsible for funding the repair of the roadway.
Board President Johnny Burnett told the other supervisors that they should proceed carefully with this issue.
“This may be as bad of an economy as we’ve ever had before, and we’re talking about detaining them further,” he said. “Right now is a bad time to shut down the little progress we’re making.”
Beat 2 Supervisor Larry Dykes suggested that the board set up a meeting with representatives from the different industries before any action is taken by the supervisors.
“We’ll have a general idea of their feelings after that and then we’ll progress from there. Then they will know the stipulations that will be put on them,” he said.
The meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 4 at 8:30 a.m. at the Magnolia Center
Facebook Rumors
Dykes also voiced his displeasure at rumors being propagated on Facebook about how the supervisors have handled the bidding processes related to the recent storms, specifically the allegations that the board may have behaved unscrupulously in any part of the bidding steps.
“Both of y’all have been in here during nearly every meeting we’ve had since this tornado came through,” he said directly to reporters from the Laurel Impact and Leader-Call. “You’ve heard what went on, how the process went, and how fair we’ve tried to make it for the people and the contractors and everybody else. If there’s any person out there who lives in Jones County, any of our constituents who has a problem with the way we’ve handled this, I would love for them to come and sit in those chairs and voice their opinion. Don’t get on Facebook, behind the keyboard, and make all these accusations they are making. One of the accusations being made is that we took money under the table to pick this debris company we picked.
“Personally I don’t like that. If I’ve got something to say to someone, I’ll say it to their face. They are invited to come and ask any questions they want to ask. Everything we have done to this point has been in the best interests of the taxpayers. I think this board has done a good job.
“I’m not talking about everybody – I’m talking about a handful of people who do this. Most everyone I’ve talked to understands the process.”