Supes to hire new collection company

By Leslie N. Dees

The Attala County Board of Supervisors agreed to hire Mississippi Court Collections to aid in the collecting of past due fines, pending a 30-day notification of Mississippi Warrant Network.

The board met with Scooter Culpepper, a MCC marketing representative, during a March meeting.

Currently, Attala County has more than $1 million in unpaid fines.



Cellular South

The board met with Cellular South representatives about using the company to provide the county with their cellular service.

The supervisors asked for six phones to test the reception throughout the county before making a decision.

Representatives said they project that the county would save $8,000 with Cellular South.

AT&T; is currently the wireless provider.



4-H

Attala County 4-H Director Becky Hamilton presented the supervisors with a breakdown of what is going on with the 4-H program and thanked them for their support every year.

Hamilton said she wanted to show how the money was spent and how the program is growing.

Hamilton said about 45 children have joined over the last year and last year’s summer program went very well with about 40 participants.

She added that the program has a Junior Master Gardner program and a sewing club.

The supervisors give $2,000 annually to the club.



Vests, schooling

Emergency Management Director Danny Townsend said the Mississippi Department of Transportation has a new policy on worker visibility and the county needs to comply by Nov. 1, or the county could lose funding.

Townsend said this concerns all responders when working accidents on public roads as well as road workers.

The supervisors asked for Townsend to look into grant funds to pay for the vests.

Townsend also handed out packets of testing materials to the supervisors and Attala County Sheriff William Lee regarding incident command system set forth by the Department of Homeland Security.

Supervisors, Lee as well as the deputies and jailers, must complete and pass four courses on the emergency response system.

If the county does not comply, they could also lose funding.

The board approved the following items:

–Coroner’s requested supplies of body bags, white sheets and gloves. The supervisors agreed to get the coroner a copy machine on state contract.

–Payments to Gardner Engineering in the amounts of $8,228.34 and $4,001.42.

–Central Mississippi Communications Tower Rental for ambulance service for $3,600.

–Destruction of old vehicle tags by the tax collector’s office.

–Sheriff’s Department third quarter budget of $154,259.75.

–Tax collector office third quarter budget of $89,742.50.

–Travel for the Justice Court clerk to attend statewide seminar in Tunica May 8-9.

–Travel for coroner to statewide seminar.

–Appoint Robert Alexander to the hospital board for District 3.

–Use applications on file to interview candidates for the Justice Court deputy clerk.

–Advertise for bids to repair the coliseum.

–Purchase a 2002 one-ton truck to be used in District Five for $12,000.

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