Convening at the courthouse in Charleston for their first meeting of a new four-year term, the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors on Monday elected officers, appointed department heads and filled other positions.
After Sheriff Jimmy Fly opened the meeting, the first order of business was the appointment of a president for the board.
On a motion by District 3 Supervisor Larry Cole and a second by District 1 Supervisor Kenneth “Buck” Havens, longtime District 2 Supervisor Johnny Goodwin was unanimously re-elected to serve as board president.
Upon motion by Cole and second by District 4 Supervisor Marcus Echols, the board voted unanimously to re-elect Havens as vice president.
Goodwin and Havens are the longest-serving members of the board — Goodwin having begun his sixth term and Havens, his fourth.
On a motion by Cole and a second by Havens, Chancery Clerk Anita Greenwood was unanimously reappointed county administrator for the 2020-2023 term.
No one was appointed to the road manager’s position.
“We’re going to table the road manager until we have more time to look over the applications,” Goodwin said.
On a motion by Havens and second by Cole, Kelly Greenwood was unanimously tabbed to continue serving as county engineer.
On a motion by Havens and a second by Cole, Maura Melton was unanimously reappointed county purchase clerk.
The last individual appointment was made on a motion by Echols and a second by Cole, as Tommy Reynolds was unanimously reappointed county attorney.
The following county positions were lumped together into one board order and approved unanimously on a motion by Cole and second by Echols:
» Comptroller/bookkeeper, Maura Melton
» Deputy purchase clerk, Brenda Wilkinson
» Deputy receiving clerk, Glenda Standridge
» E-911/flood plain coordinator, Ashley Williams
» Emergency Management Agency director, Thad Roberts
» Fire coordinator, Linnie Maples
» Parks and recreation director, Kenneth Jones
» Receiving clerk, Yolanda Hudson
» Solid waste collections officer/inventory clerk, Lakita Brown
» Solid waste manager, Rickie Cook
Among other board news:
• On a motion by Cole and second by Havens, supervisors voted unanimously to grant Tallahatchie County Coroner Ginger Meriwether’s request for a pay raise to $1,250 per month.
“I have never received a monthly increase,” said Meriwether, who this month began her fifth term. “In the time that I’ve served, I’ve never asked for an increase.”
She has been drawing $900 per month, but a bill passed by the 2019 legislature authorized counties to pay coroners up to $1,250.
• At the request of the Board of Supervisors — District 5’s Eddie Meeks, in particular — Meriwether said she will begin searching for a deputy coroner for Tallahatchie County.
For some time, Meriwether has not had a deputy — someone who can respond to calls when she is unavailable — telling supervisors that she has instead relied upon an informal agreement among the coroners’ offices in Grenada, Panola, Tallahatchie and Yalobusha counties, who assist each other when called upon.
Meriwether said coroners or deputy coroners who come into Tallahatchie from adjacent counties are sometimes paid $175 per case, but she added that the outside help has been required only a handful of times over the past four years.
A deputy coroner, not required in counties of under 20,000 population, receives $300 per month, she said.
Meeks said he is against “outsourcing” the job responsibilities and noted that having a local deputy coroner may speed up response times.
Under the law, the coroner has authority to hire a deputy of her choosing without Board of Supervisors approval.
• Tallahatchie County Engineer Kelly Greenwood told supervisors that an environmental clearance is delaying the start of the $5 million Lamb-Fish Bridge project.
Greenwood said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Department of Transportation are in ongoing discussions.
• New Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples provided the board a wish list for county fire department personnel.
He told supervisors that more protective gear is needed for county firefighters, including new turnout suits.
Maples said former fire coordinator Richard Taylor had been purchasing 12 sets of turnouts per year and distributing them to county fire departments as needed.
“We have some people in some fire departments who don’t have any sets at all,” Maples noted.
Several new handheld two-way radios are needed, he added. The digital mobile devices that operate on the statewide MSWIN communications network cost about $1,700 each, Maples said.
The coordinator said many of the fire departments’ self-contained breathing apparatuses need to be inspected.
“These SCBA cylinders are out of date,” Maples noted. “They could be hazardous for firefighters to breathe air through if there are any contaminants or rust.”
• On a motion by Meeks and a second by Echols, the board voted unanimously to appoint Richard Gipson, Anita Greenwood, Robert Rowe and Diane Shipp as Tallahatchie County’s representatives on the North Delta Planning and Development District board.
• On a motion by Echols and second by Havens, the board voted unanimously to advertise for electric generators for the town of Webb’s water system, the Sharkey-Hampton Lake Volunteer Fire Department and North Tallahatchie Water Association, all to be funded through monies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
• On a motion by Echols and second by Meeks, the board unanimously approved Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly’s recommendation that Shun Byrd of Webb be appointed county fire investigator. Fly told supervisors Byrd is well-qualified for the job. He is a certified firefighter who serves as a captain for the Greenwood Fire Department and a certified law enforcement officer who works part-time for the Sumner Police Department, he said.
