The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors named a temporary replacement for the open county road manager position and its meeting on Monday.
Supervisors announced County Administrator Emily Garrard as the interim road manager following the retirement of Victor Collins, after more than three decades with the county.
Garrard has worked with the county since 2002, serving as comptroller from 2002 to 2014, before becoming County Administrator.
“Mainly what I will be doing is just making sure everything runs smoothly until they can get a permanent road manager on board,” she said.
Garrard said the county is in the second week of advertising for the position and already has three applicants.
OTHER BUSINESS
Supervisors also unanimously approved a set of resolutions to move forward with a project by Southern Cross Transmission to build a new transmission line running through Oktibbbeha County.
The first resolution acknowledges the benefits of the project and directs the Chancery Clerk to forward a copy of the resolution to the Mississippi Public Service Commission for consideration.
Golden Triangle Development LINK is contracted by the county as part of the potential deal, and will receive a share of the private investment funds that will be generated by the project if it comes online.
Board of Supervisors President Orlando Trainer said the longterm advantage will be an increase in electric energy capabilities, while the only drawback will be a single metal power pole.
Southern Cross Transmission is looking to construct roughly 400 miles of high-voltage direct current transmission lines across Louisiana and Mississippi, with approximately 200 of those miles in Mississippi.
The proposed total investment by the company in Mississippi is $700 million.
Trainer said if the project comes online, the county will net $320,000, the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will receive $300,000 and $15,000 will go to the LINK per its contract with the county.
“The county is going to make some money off of it,” Trainer said.