LIBERTY — New state tourism markers will soon appear to drive more traffic to the Lynryd Skynyrd airplane crash site in Gillsburg.
Bobby McDaniel, president of the Lynyrd Skynyrd monument board, updated Amite County Board of Supervisors Monday about the monument’s popularity and the need for the signs.
The monument on Easley Road was unveiled in October 2019 to commemorate the 1977 crash that killed six passengers, including members of the Southern rock band.
The Mississippi House of Representatives bill passed 51-0 for the monument to receive tourism markers on I-55 at Exit 8, on Mississippi Highway 568 at Easley Road and on Highway 568 at Mississippi Highway 584 in Gillsburg.
“Lynyrd Skynyrd monument has become a must-see destination for motorcycle groups and carpoolers,” McDaniel said. “The Lynyrd Skynyrd monument has become the largest attraction in Amite County if not in Southwest Mississippi.”
He showed the supervisors seven guest books filled with over 4,500 names of those who visited the monument since last November. The guests have come from 39 states, Washington D.C., Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, Nepal and South Korea.
McDaniel said the monument board gets requests from people who want to dump ashes of their family members at the monument, and they hear from people who were there the night of the crash.
He listed the monument’s economic benefits for the county, including food and gas that guests get in town and yellow roses people often buy locally to place on the monument.
McDaniel’s requests from supervisors included culvert markers, pot hole fill-ins, litter pick-ups, help painting the parking lot, some of which is on county property, and a sign at the top of the hill on Easley Road to warn drivers of possible slow traffic ahead at the monument.
Also on Monday, the supervisors discussed how to use $1.5 million leftover from Local System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program state funds.
County engineer David Cothern warned supervisors that the funds could not be swapped with another county and that not using the money would give less incentive for the state to award it in the future. Board President Jackie Whittington said he doesn’t foresee issues in spending it.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been in that problem,” Whittington said. “We’re trying to get it spread out evenly instead of just being in one place. We’re just going to see if there are any options left. We’ll spend it where we have to spend it.”
The supervisors also ensured an even split for funds in the county’s roads, bridges and culverts fund, dividing it five ways so each district has access to $41,817 in that fund.
Cothern told the board the Turner Road improvement project is ongoing and that projects for Wicker, Dominick, and Powell roads await approval. Supervisors granted Cothern permission to do the paperwork.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, supervisors:
• Accepted a bid from Debris Tech to be the county’s debris monitor in FEMA-declared disasters. The contract is good through 2023 and will pay Debris Tech $65 an hour if their services are required. However, no companies submitted bids to be the county’s debris removal company, and that contract may have to be re-advertized.
• Accepted a $260,623.50 bid from Oddee Smith Construction Inc. in Brookhaven to replace the bridge on Poole Lane, pending approval from a state agent.
• Approved a $130,287 payment to T.L. Wallace Construction in Columbia for county construction work using Emergency Road and Bridge Repair money from MDOT.
• Approved increasing pay from $40 to $100 for resolution board members working the election in light of their extra responsibilities in handling absentee ballots up to five days after Election Day.
• Approved increasing Branden Hayden’s pay for cutting grass at five county locations from $355 to $408.25 per cut, effective Oct. 1.
• Approved the physical inventory of assets for 2019-20.
• Told Board Attorney Reggie Jones of two new culverts needed, an 18-by-30-foot culvert on County Line Road for Mitch Smith, and a 12-by-30-foot culvert on Brown Road for Blaze Melerine.
• Heard an update on repairs for a firetruck the board added to their asset list. The repairs are nearly complete, and for less than $5,000 the county will have gained a new rescue truck, Cothern said.
