County worries over vandals

By Adam Koob (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Tuesday, August 4, 2009

NATCHEZ — A recent rash of stolen and vandalized road signs throughout the county got the attention of the Adams County Board of Supervisors at their Monday meeting.

Adams County Road Crew Manager Clarence “Curly” Jones said in the past weeks multiple street and road signs have been either stolen or vandalized.

Jones said several street signs have been stolen from their mounts and multiple traffic signs have been pushed down, presumably with heavy pick-up trucks.

“It’s all over the county,” Jones said.

And while replacing the signs can be costly, costing as much as $35 each, it also presents a public safety issue supervisors S.E. “Spanky” Felter said.

Felter said in some cases when stop signs have been mowed down, the intersection it protected is made vulnerable.

“Whoever does stuff like that is stupid,” Felter said. “They need to stop.”

While the board acknowledged preventing vandalism would be difficult, board President Henry Watts suggested the possibility of issuing a reward of $500 to those who provide information leading to the arrest of the vandals.

In other news, the board also heard from Stine Lumber Company President Dennis Stine who was at Monday’s meeting to contest tax assessments of his company’s building on U.S. 61 South.

Stine and the board never got into specifics because the official day to contest the tax assessment is not until Aug. 10.

“I wanted to be here to formally object in a timely manner,” Stine said.

And while the board did allow Stine the option to present his case at the meeting, Watts advised against it.

Watts, and the rest of the board, said they felt Stine would be better served if he presented his case on Aug. 10 when Adams County Tax Assessor Reynolds would be present.

Monday’s meeting also brought the passage of a resolution aimed at repairing a weir on Lake Mary.

The weir, like a dam, borders Adams and Wilkinson counties and needs to be replaced said, John Skains, a representative with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Skains said the weir was originally built in 1966, but years of erosion have eaten away at the dam.

Skains said estimates to replace the dam range from $1.8 to $2.3 million.

Monday’s motion will send a joint letter from Adams and Wilkinson counties to petition the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allocate funding in the 2011 budget year to correct the problem.

But funding from the Corps won’t cover all of the work.

Supervisor Darryl Grennell said the supervisors are hoping local state representatives will be able to make a special appropriation, of more than $500,000, to cover the cost of the repair work that won’t be paid for by the corps.

Citing personnel issues and economic development, the board met in executive session from 12:20 p.m. until approximately 2:30 p.m.