The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors will dive headlong into trying to tackle glaring roadwork issues in the area Monday.
The board will host a road bond workshop meeting to determine a path forward, less than three months after supervisors approved an updated four-year road plan.
The discussion also comes after the board approved a 1-mill increase for the county's road and bridge fund in this year's fiscal budget. The increase will net around $341,000, but the board will look at options to possibly secure a multimillion dollar bond. A bond package could help secure money for blanket, district-wide projects, and the board has continually fielded citizen complaints this year regarding poor road conditions.
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer has advocated strongly for securing a bond, and Monday's meeting could see a breakthrough in beginning to solve road project issues. In August, the board approved a $3.66 million road plan through 2019 for all of the county's five districts. Of the 11 total overlay projects in the plan, only five projects are set to repair 1,000 or more feet of road. Trainer hopes a bond could help increase the scope of all county road projects.
"We are building and repairing as we go," Trainer said. "But (paving, overlay and building) costs can't be controlled. We've made improvements in certain areas, but the improvements don't let us stretch that money due to costs."
The rising costs of reclaiming, building and paving roads has hampered projects, he added. The four-year road plan can be adjusted at any time. The plan includes over six miles of reclamation projects and 6.37 miles of newly built roads through 2018.
For more, see the Nov. 19 edition.