Ken Strachan, in his capacity as North Carrollton Mayor, said the Town of North Carrollton is pursuing a grant with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to construct a park near The Carroll County Tabernacle.
Strachan said he’s spoken with Willis Engineering, and they’re in the final stages of conceptualizing what they want the park to look like before submitting the application today. He said the proposed funding for the park is $327,000 and will include picnic tables, trash receptacles, sidewalks, bathrooms and more.
“You know, North Carrollton is covered by Beats 1, 2 and 4, and I think this will be a good thing for not only North Carrollton but for Carroll County,” he said.
Strachan said the park will be used by generations to come not only in North Carrollton but in the entire county.
He said it’s an investment that will increase tourism in both Carrollton and North Carrollton, especially when MDOT completes the new Big Sand Creek Bridge.
And with the Tabernacle being an historic site, more people will want to come visit.
In another matter, Board Attorney Kevin Horan said he received an email from Attorney Scott Pickle representing a couple wanting the county to abandon a portion of County Road 144, also known as Nebo Road.
Supervisor Claude Fluker said he was not inclined to close the road. He said there’s another family that has land on the road, other than Pickle’s clients, and they need access to that road also because they have timber and live on the land.
“The Blackmons are not going to close that road. If they were inclined to do it, then I would. But, they need access to that road, too, and I’m just not inclined to do it,” Fluker said.
In the email, Pickle stated that there was a bridge on the road that has been condemned and the road now floods and is not maintained.
Fluker said a resident who lives west of the bridge built a dam and now pushes water to the road, which has caused flooding on the road.
“Beaver built a dam, and when I went and told him that he couldn’t do that, he told me that I couldn’t tell him what to do on his property,” Fluker said.
“That’s an antique bridge isn’t it,” Neill asked, with Fluker responding yes.
The bridge is a wooden bridge that has metal around it, which has been closed for quite some time. However, the bridge is one of the bridges the county has to program for its Emergency Bridge Repair Funds or State Aid would not award the money.
Fluker said he’s not sure what State Aid wants to do with the bridge, whether they’ll make them go around it or not, because the bridge is a historical site.
The board also went into executive session on a personnel matter at the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility. Chancery Clerk Casey Carpenter said no action was taken on the matter.
Also, the board:
Heard from James McNeal about his recent treatment by an employee at the Carroll County Tax Assessors office in Carrollton. Tax Assessor Wilton Neal said he would set up a meeting with the employee, Jim Neill, McNeal and himself and report the outcome to the board.
Approved to junk a tractor and an asphalt roller in Beat 2, an old Lexmark printer in Extension Office and a mobile radio for the Coroner’s office.
Approved a bid from Rawls Construction for a building at the Carroll-Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility.
