Back from Washington, D.C.: Leaders ready to prepare for Federal stimulus funds

By Leslie N. Dees

The Attala County Board of Supervisors and the City of Kosciusko are ready to get to work and prepare for the Federal stimulus funds that could be coming their way.

President Barack Obama's first major piece of legislation – a $787 billion mix of tax cuts was signed on Tuesday.

As the arguments and debates over the stimulus package were going on last week, Supervisors Charles Fancher and Tim Pinkard, Kosciusko Mayor Jimmy Cockroft, Kosciusko-Attala Development Corporation CEO Steve Zea, city/county engineer Christian Gardner and Entergy’s Paul Powers were in Washington, D.C., to meet with Mississippi’s congressmen with the needs of the county.

“This is unprecedented money,” Zea said.

The group took 17 projects to the nation’s capitol including the Kosciusko-Attala County Technology, Training and Education Center (old Milwaukee Electric Tool Building), Emergency Operations Center, Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital renovation, paving projects and more.

Some of the stimulus funds will funnel through the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

Fancher said there is going to be a lot of money for rural development and we need to get grant writers in line.

“All this money won’t be spent this spring,” Fancher said. “I hope we get our share.”

Zea said a team of grant writers needed to be assembled so that Attala County and Kosciusko is prepared when the funding starts to roll in. Grant funds could be used as matching funds to the federal dollars.

The four-laning of Highway 35 was also a topic of discussion on the trip.

Fancher said the four-laning of Highway 35 was well received by the congressmen as well as the EOC and KACTREC.

He said Sen. Roger Wicker was for the highway project.

If four-laned, Highway 35 could be used as a hurricane evacuation route.

The supervisors discussed that the plans for the four-laning of Highway 12 have been on the books for a long time.

Gardner suggested the supervisors write a letter asking Highway Commissioner Bill Minor change the focus from Highway 12 to Highway 35.

Mayor Jimmy Cockroft said making an effort to go see the congressmen each year was well worth it. Cockroft said there were other delegations from Mississippi there looking for help.

The group received feedback from their packaged materials that contained drawings and blue prints and cost estimates of some projects.

“We had thoroughly thought out these projects through architectural drawings and engineering estimates,” Zea said.

Cockroft said meeting with the National Trust of Historic Places was well worth the time.

He and Zea met with NTHP Senior Loan Officer Krista Kendall about the city-owned Strand Theater.

“She gave us a lot of good avenues for funding,” he said.

The city board of aldermen were to discuss the trip Tuesday night.

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