Termites a concern at education building
By Jim Cox Co-publisher

A wet floor and termites in the Clarke County Board of Education building on Cobb Street in Grove Hill is not a good combination and county commissioners took up some time Tuesday to discuss the problem.

Commission Chairman Paul Bradford said Superintendent of Education Gerald Stephens told him of the problems that have been found in the building that is owned by the county. The ground under the building can be treated to kill termites but as long as there is wet wood in the flooring it will provide a place for them to continue to live and the problem will persist.

Replacing the wet and rotting wood flooring is needed and that may turn into a job. Commissioners asked if the school system's maintenance personnel could look at the problem and offer some advice as to repairs.

Commissioner Rhondel Rhone noted that the two health department buildings adjacent to the courthouse owned by the county will be vacated at some point in the future when a new building slated for construction on Highway 84 is completed. He said the county might need to consider moving the school board into one of those buildings. He said the building is cramped and that parking is limited at the current location.

Personnel

Ellen Toland has announced that she will be retiring as county administrator at the end of March. She has worked for the county for 29 years but is having to retire due to health problems.

Commissioners agreed to post the position "in house," thereby considering county employees first for the job.

Commissioners also agreed to let Sheriff Bobby Moore fill two deputy vacancies and to fill three jailer vacancies. Also, approval for filling an appraisal clerk's vacancy in the revenue commissioner's office was also approved.

Tallahatta-Opine VFD

Commissioners recognized the certification of the newest fire department in the county, Tallahatta-Opine, and authorized that they be allowed to draw their portion of the county fire tax funds.

The department was given an ISO certification of 7/9. A nine is considered an excellent rating for a rural department and area homeowners should realize a 20 percent to 50 percent reduction in their insurance premiums.

Engineer's report

County Engineer Sam Noble said that Rex Knight has been hired as an engineering assistant. He previously worked for Kellogg, Brown and Root.

Noble said that county motor graders were sold at auction recently and the county was paid their guaranteed minimum, some $1.7 million for the machines.

Noble said he and Clint Hawkins are working in the lower end of the county where there have been complaints about road problems. "We are initiating some changes to address the critical areas and we expect to see some improvements [in the roads] as a result of some of the changes," he said.

Tuesday, Noble presented commissioners with an updated application for federal secondary road funds to pave the Morning Star Road (the lower part of the Old Line Road) and Manila Road from Suggsville to Perry's Chapel, some 9.5 miles. The new estimate for the work is $5.6 million.

The road is the only dirt road in the county that qualifies for the federal funds. An application was previously made but was not approved.

This renewed effort is the result of recent complaints about the road's condition.

It was agreed to seek supporting letters from area businesses and industries, as well as the City of Jackson and others that could benefit from the road being paved.

An application package will be forwarded to state and federal representatives for assistance.

Chairman unchanged In response to a question, Chairman Bradford said there are no plans to seek legislative approval for changes to the current commission chairmanship setup. Bradford advocates a full-time chairman but other commissioners, including Commissioner DuBose, say it is fine the way it is.

Because there is no consensus among commissioners on the issue, nothing is being pushed right now. But Bradford said he would like to see some changes made by the time he and Commissioner Joe Hunt have to run next year.

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