The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors spent approximately two hours discussing its four-year road plan on Tuesday, leaving with an outlined plan that left some supervisors feeling underwhelmed.
County Road Manager Victor Collins told the five supervisors they would each be able to get 1.5 miles of new construction and five miles of reclamation work in their districts over the current four-year term.
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer once again alluded to calling for a road bond to allow the county to more quickly address its approximately 250 miles of gravel roads, but no other supervisors voiced support for the idea.
“A mile and a half over four years is not acceptable,” Trainer said.
Supervisors did discuss the possibility of outsourcing some new road construction projects, but Collins noted the increased right-of-way and utility issues that come with using a contractor. County Engineer Clyde Pritchard said that in his opinion, the county gets the most for its money when the road department is building new roads.
Collins and the supervisors also discussed ways to enhance employee productivity, which would allow more work to be done over four years. District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller said in her role as director of the Mississippi Horse Park she makes prospective employees do a demonstration on the equipment they will be operating. This process, she said, has helped show who is best qualified for the job. She encouraged Collins to use a similar approach.
District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams said the road department should hire seasonal employees during prime road construction months over the summer. However, Collins said most of the employees he would want in the area already have jobs. Supervisors also discussed having the road department advertise for open positions instead of using the “friend network” of current employees.
“I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra for someone that is truly experienced,” District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery said.
Currently, the road department is hoping to complete ongoing construction projects on Brown and A.W. Williams Road by this summer. Once those projects are complete, the department will shift its focus to constructing 1.5 miles on St. Mark Road and 2.2 Miles on Pat Station Road. The new projects have an estimated cost of $510,000 and $748,000, respectively.
Collins estimates his crews can finish work on St. Mark Road by October and Pat Station Road in March of 2017. The next project on the list is to build 0.75 miles on Water Well Road, which could be completed by the summer of 2017. Miller and Montgomery have yet to determine which roads they will add to the list for the next projects following Water Well Road.
While Tuesday’s meeting primarily centered on the locally funded road plan, supervisors also briefly discussed potential federal and state aid projects. Each supervisor has approximately $487,000 available for projects on State Aid roads.
The board appears to still support a potential $3.6 million paving project on Longview Road, which would pave the portion of the road that stretches from Highway 25 to Highway 12 near Longview. Eighty percent of the cost of that project would come from federal money. The remaining $726,000 would come from a special fund previously set aside for the Longview Road project, as well as some of Miller and Montgomery’s State Aid Money.
Williams said Tuesday he is going to use all of his district’s State Aid money to repair a 4.23-mile stretch of Turkey Creek Road. Trainer said he wants to use his State Aid money for repairs on 16th Section Road, heading north from Highway 182 and in unspecified portions of Old West Point Road.