Carroll County is entering into the Statewide Mutual Aid Compact, also known as SMAC. Civil Defense and Emergency Management Director Ken Strachan said SMAC is a statewide pact between all 82 counties and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Strachan said the purpose of SMAC is to assist a county during a natural disaster. He said the pact is helpful if there’s a disaster, and the Supervisors and their men are all tied up. He said another county can come in and help, and they’ll reimburse the county for their help.
He said it could be a great thing for the county, stating that it’s a good resource for the county to have if something were to happen in the middle of the night.
“I think it’ll be a great thing for the county,” Board President Jim Neill said.
Strachan also said the county received an extension of the 2020 Flood repair work. He said the extension will last until Oct. 31, 2022, and it could be prolonged due to rain, weather or any other events that might occur.
He said throughout the declarations, the county has received more than half a million dollars in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the goal was to leave a road in better shape than its former condition.
Also, the board heard from Charles Humphrey. In March, the board met with Jamie Holloway and Elizabeth Clark with Butler Snow LLC, a legal service firm in Ridgeland, about possibly issuing a bond. Humphrey wanted the board to pick two projects, making one a primary project and one a secondary project.
“There should be 10 projects in all and then go from there prioritizing what’s most important,” he said. “Then, take one project that’s the biggest need in the county. Say, the bridge on County Road 144. That bridge been out for years, and it was built in what – the early 1900s?” Humphrey asked.
He told the board that’s how they should prioritize how they want to spend the money, once they issue the bond. However, the board is not issuing the bond yet. The board had two years to decide whether or not it wants to issue it.
Board members decided earlier that they wanted to hold off on the bond because of the American Rescue Plan Act funds, the Internet Sales Tax funds and the funds that Delta’s Edge Solar Farm will bring into the county.
During that meeting, Supervisors Josh Hurst and Dill Tucker both told the board they wanted to see the total amount of all of the funds outstanding before they decided on a bond.
“You’re absolutely right, and that’s all really good information. But, that’s what we’ve done, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Neill told Humphrey.
“We need to know these things, we don’t know what we don’t know. So, I think at least every quarter y’all need to give an update on what you’re working on,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey also asked about the county’s budget. He said the county’s budget is up to $22 million and wanted to know where the money was going. He said there’s about $3.5 million that’s split between the five beats and $19 million that’s unaccounted.
However, Neill explained that $19 million is not all for the Supervisors, and there are other departments for which the money is allocated.
The other departments, employees and their equipment that are covered in the $19 million are the Chancery Clerk’s office, Circuit Clerk’s office, Constables, Justice Court Offices, Tax Assessor and Collector’s Office, Coroner, Sheriff’s Department, County Prosecutor, Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility, the Extension Service, the Department of Human Services, the Libraries, the Recreational Park, the buildings that are maintained by the county like both courthouses, Vaiden Clinic, Tyler Holmes Clinic, and the Support Staff office for the Carroll County School District.
