The McComb city board agreed Tuesday to support the Scenic Rivers Alliance and contribute $10,000 to it.
Selectmen voted 5-1, with Selectman Michael Cameron opposing ,to enter into an inter-local agreement with the Pike and Amite county boards of supervisors.
Cameron declined comment on his vote this morning and said he would issue a statement at a later date.
The alliance is meant to promote outdoor tourism such as birdwatching, fishing and hunting in southwest Mississippi.
McComb Recreation Department Director Joseph Parker will head up the alliance.
City officials have expressed concerns about Parker’s involvement with both jobs in the past.
Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson echoed those concerns Tuesday, questioning the potential overlapping of services between the city and alliance.
Board attorney Wayne Dowdy said he spoke with Deputy State Auditor Pat Dendy, who advised that the city should use specific language to specify Parker’s duties with his city job to ensure they do not overlap with his duties with the alliance.
“It’s illegal for Scenic Rivers to pay him for the same things,” Dowdy said, “but they can pay him for different things.”
Johnson also expressed concerns regarding Parker’s availability for tournaments at the McComb Sports Park and his ability to oversee the construction of a third ballfield at the park.
Mayor Whitney Rawlings and City Administrator Quordiniah Lockley said they supported the alliance and Parker’s involvement.
“(Scenic Rivers) is in its infancy. The only way it’ll work is if Joseph is there,” Rawlings said. “Joseph’s duties to the city come first and foremost. We can always revisit this a year from now.”
In other business, the board:
• Reappointed Eliece Rayborn to a three-year term on the McComb School District board of trustees.
• Approved an agreement with Rick Duke, director of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, for a one-year economic development study of the city. The study will cost $17,500, but Rawlings said an unidentified benefactor will foot the city’s bill.
• Reappointed Johnny Turner to a three-year term on the McComb Planning Commission.
• Recognized police officer Curtis Andrews for 15 years with the police department.
• Recognized Donell Perkins for five years with the recreation department.
• Approved a Statewide Mutual Aid Compact agreement, which allows municipalities to share resources in the event of a disaster.
• Received the fiscal year 2011 audit from the Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center board.
• Approved a proclamation that was presented to WINGS at the organization’s Feb. 23 fundraiser.
• Approved a proclamation to the family of Jackie “Rip” Robinson Sr., who was employed in the McComb Public Works Department.
