A Pike County supervisor complained Thursday about a work hiatus on a bridge replacement project in Baertown, but an engineer defended the contractor, who he said is still on schedule.
Supervisor Tazwell Bowsky said work has apparently stopped on the Hamilton Street bridge.
Garrett Smith of Neel Schaffer Engineering said the contractor, Gulf Breeze Construction of Saucier, has been off the job for about two weeks but has been consistently sticking to its schedule and is about 80% of the way through its contract.
The same firm rebuilt the Fernwood Road bridge and went over the allowed timeframe, which resulted in the contractor having to pay damages to the county.
“They’re not the fastest in the world, but they have worked a lot more consistently than they did on the Fernwood Road bridge project,” Smith said.
“It looks like they should be able to get this thing completed.”
Bowsky said residents have been without the bridge for seven years and going two weeks without seeing any work done isn’t going over well.
“Seven years and two weeks, huh?” he said.
Supervisor Robert Accardo questioned the length of the bridge closure.
“Seven years?” he asked.
“Go down there and talk to those people in Baertown, they’ll tell you,” Bowsky said.
“I know it’s been a long time,” Supervisor Sam Hall said.
Smith said Gulf Breeze doesn’t lack much work.
“They’ve got the sheet piling in place. They’ve got to do their dirt work,” Smith said.
Supervisor Lee Fortenberry said he knows all about lengthy bridge closures, adding that the county just received Emergency Road and Bridge Replacement funds from the state to replace State Line Road’s closed bridge.
“I’m nine years on that one, Mr. Bowsky,” he said. “But it’s going to be fixed.’
“We’re going to be able to get under contract this year,” Smith said.
Fortenberry asked for a general assessment of Pike County’s bridges.
“We’re pretty good, Pike County is, on bridges?” he asked Smith.
“Compared to other counties, yes,” Smith said.
In other business, the board:
• Approved invoices from the sheriff’s department for inmate housing, including $1,846 billed to Magnolia police, $7,283 to McComb, $11,144 to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, $630 to Summit police and $60 to the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department.
• Accepted the resignation of Gary McKenzie from the sheriff’s department, hired Kimberly Kent and Jessica Matthews as corrections officers, discharged Oscar Lamar Cook from the sheriff’s office for health reasons, and hired Tiffany Gordon in the solid waste department.
• Authorized Fortenberry to send a letter to the Mississippi Department of Transportation requesting them to activate a project to build a railroad overpass on Highway 51 in Magnolia, a project for which partial federal funding has been devoted.
• Authorized Fortenberry to execute engagement letters with Butler Snow for the law firm’s representation in property tax assessment disputes.
• Accepted a resolution from the South Pike School District asking the county to levy $5,608,640 in school ad valorem taxes.
• Approved a resolution authorizing discretionary disbursements from the defunct Region 11 Mental Health Complex’s escrow account, which will allow the region to settle some of its outstanding debts without having to get approval from each board of supervisors in the nine-county district.
• Held a hearing on objections to the 2023 tax assessments, with no one speaking against them, and accepted recommendations on the objections from Tax Assessor Laurie Allen and reductions to the rolls as recommended by her office.
“I maintain my position that the assessments that are on the rolls stand,” Allen said
• At Allen’s recommendation, denied a homestead exemption application from Robert and Tiffany McKnight.
