Speeding motorists and the safety of children at Morgantown Elementary drew discussion at the Adams County Board of Supervisors regular meeting Monday.

Residents of the Second Street area, in Morgantown asked the board to put in speed humps to slow down traffic on the road that connects to Cottage Home Drive, the location of Morgantown Elementary.

&uot;Please don’t wait until some of our kids get killed before something’s done,&uot;&160;said James Hinson.

The residents say motorists in the 15 mph zone travel so fast they endanger the children. They think speed humps may be the only way to slow people down.

&uot;It’s a straight stretch — is what it is,&uot; said Jack Smith. &uot;I don’t know no other way to go about doing it.&uot;

Adams County Sheriff Tommy Ferrell agreed the community had a problem with people exceeding the speed limit.

&uot;They have a very unique problem in their neighborhood because of the school,&uot; Ferrell said. &uot;I think (the speed humps) may tend to help the situation out some.&uot;

Ironically, the Adams County Sheriff’s office has six employees who live in that area but even that doesn’t slow motorists, he said.

Other options to slow traffic down are limited. Ferrell said Mississippi Sheriff Departments are not allowed to use radar to catch speeders and even having a monitor in place to remind people how fast they are going probably won’t work.

&uot;If you don’t have a form of punishment, the psychological (effect) doesn’t last very long,&uot; Ferrell said.

The board decided it had to look into the legal issues of speed humps before making a decision.

Board President Virginia Salmon said she worried the county could be sued if the humps damage vehicles.

And Supervisors, Thomas &uot;Boo&uot; Campbell said from what he had witnessed, he doubted the speed humps would slow people down.

In other board business Monday, Mary Jane Gaudet, of the Adams County Youth Court announced the county received a $100,000 grant for a Family First Resource Center.

The program will be located on 323 Market Street and offer programs &uot;focused on maintaining family structure,&uot; Gaudet said.

These include family therapy, parenting classes, foster and adoptive parenting programs, tutoring and a child abuse prevention program.

The board also heard a request from the Natchez Downtown Development Association for $15,000.

Tammy Mullins, executive director of the association, said the downtown appearance is important, especially for the success of the Natchez Convention Center, now under construction.