Despite years of pushing for a stretch of Higgins Drive to be paved, Pike County Supervisor Tazwell Bowsky opposed a measure to do just that on Thursday.
The board of supervisors voted 4-1 to help the city of McComb repair portions of Higgins Drive.
After the meeting, Bowsky said he wants all of Higgins Drive, which straddles the city limit line, to be milled and overlaid.
The project approved on Thursday will repair only the worst areas — where Higgins Drive meets Gertman Hill Road and the Elmwood Street-Myers Lane intersection.
“That is doing half of what should be done there. ... It fixes the pothole issue, not the entire road,” Bowsky said.
During the meeting, board president Chuck Lambert said he and supervisors Gary Honea, Faye Hodges and Luke Brewer are willing to work with McComb to improve roads the best they can.
“I think by me sitting down with the city and talking to them, and figuring out what they’re willing to do at this point in time, I think we were able to come up with a solution,” Lambert said. “While it may not be perfect, it’s going to get Higgins in much better shape.”
Bowsky also took issue with Lambert spearheading the Higgins Drive project, which lies in Bowsky’s district.
Board attorney Wayne Dowdy pointed out that the county operates on the unit system rather than the beat or district system, meaning supervisors must evaluate roads countywide, not by district.
Still, after the meeting Bowsky asked, “Why would a supervisor in that district come to another district and have total say-so?”
He also alluded to the fact that it’s an election year and one of Lambert’s constituents owns a business in Bowsky’s district, which Bowsky claims led to the road work.
Bowsky said he has presented petitions to the board from citizens and business owners for years and the road remains in bad shape.
“The county should fix the road,” he said. “That is what I’ve been doing for the last eight years. There is a statute that allows the county to fix city roads.”
The repair work will not begin for several weeks and McComb will borrow the county’s roller and use a few county employees.
The board also amended the road register to include Higgins Drive. Lambert said that when he was county administrator he prepared the register and the board approved the document. Formerly, Pike County’s share of Higgins Drive ran .540 miles. In actuality it runs .546.
In a related matter, Lambert wants the board to develop a policy that would outline routine street maintenance with municipalities in cases where roads split between the county and towns.
The board also:
• Received and took under advisement bids for the construction of a new county maintenance facility. The bids were with Richard Womack Construction for $1,880,000, Owen Holland & Sons for $957,000, Paul Jackson & Sons for $1,154,000, Casablanca Construction for $1,079,00 and C. Perry Builders for $1,089,000.
• Received and awarded the bid for the Love Creek Drive bridge and approaches project to Smith & Sons Construction for $504,405.
• Approved travel for adult drug court employees to attend training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.
• Approved a lease agreement with WFS Leasing for a copier at the county road department.
• Authorized Lambert to execute solid waste agreement modifications and to sign Adams Road bridge project and Gateway Industrial sewer project documents.
• Approved submitting a grant application to Mississippi Department of Transportation for the Pike County Multi-Purpose Recreational Trail.
• Approved a contract for professional services with Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District for help with the Community Block Grant regarding road improvements and the sewer line in Gateway Industrial Park.
• Authorized advertising for proposals to strip and wax floors at the courthouse, courthouse annex, justice court and sheriff’s office.
• Approved an $81,768 payment to Neel-Schaffer for November 2014.
• Noticed an employee action form for the promotion of Jason Newman from corrections officer to sergeant in the sheriff’s department.
• Approved the use of the Pike County Multi-Purpose Facility for a birthday party in February, baby shower and birthday party in April and a family reunion, wedding and wedding reception in July.
• Entered into executive session to discuss economic development and potential litigation. Afterward, the board authorized Dowdy to file a complaint in Pike County Circuit Court for declaratory judgment to cancel a judgment that was issued to attorney Amy Ryan for guardian ad litem fees.
