Pike County’s burn ban was extended to Sept. 29 after supervisors acted Friday on the recommendation of civil defense officials, who said prolonged drought conditions continue to create fire hazards.
“We are still at a very high risk of drought,” Civil Defense Director Richard Coghlan said. “We have to take the safe route.”
Pike County hasn’t had measurable rain in nearly two months, and brush fires have been keeping firefighters busy all summer.
The forecast for the following week shows no chance of rain, which means it’s going to take a lot of unlikely precipitation to fall in a short amount of time if the ban is going to be lifted by October.
In another matter, supervisors agreed to update the county’s noise ordinance to make it more enforceable.
Board president Lee Fortenberry noted that the ordinance had not been updated since 2018.
“I’ve received multiple complaints of music going on through the night,” said Fortenberry, who asked that the ordinance be changed to mirror McComb’s, which says things that can be heard from a distance of 75 feet is too loud.
Fines are $100 to $500 and a possible 10 days in jail for the first offense, $750 and a possible 30 days in jail for the second and $1,000 and six months for the third offense.
In other business, the board:
• Agreed to issue of insurance rebate checks for county employees who are eligible to receive them based on their coverage.
• Appointed Neel-Schaffer as the engineer on record for the State Line Road and Summit-Holmesville bridge repair projects. Neel-Schaffer’s Garrett Smith told the board that advertisements for bids on the State Line Road project began Wednesday, and bids will be opened on Oct. 12. The board is expected to vote on a contract on Oct. 13.
• Agreed to write a letter of support for McComb’s Reconnecting Communities Grant application, which seeks to revamp and improve railroad connections, including the Georgia Avenue viaduct and overpass. Smith said this will provide transportation improvements to better connect east to west and he is asking for additional letters of support.
• Accepted a $279,919 bid from Wildstone Construction for the Bogue Chitto Water Park walking trail project. Wildstone’s bid was the lowest of three received and not far off the engineer’s estimate of $275,381. Colony Construction bid $342,391 and Greenbriar Digging bid $410,709.
“MDOT will have to sign off on this, and that might take a month,” Smith said.
“We’ve been waiting quite a while for this project to get going, and I’m looking forward to seeing the trail return to its former glory with the work about to be done,” Fortenberry said,
• Agreed to reinstate the homestead exemption application for Lucious Montgomery, 3109 W. Topisaw Road S., as recommended by Tax Assessor Laurie Allen.
• Authorized a supplemental tax sale to be held on Oct. 3 after a payment submitted by an individual attempting to pay taxes on a parcel of land was returned.
