The Commissioners Court approved the purchase of a new chip spreader for the Road and Bridge Department Tuesday. Commissioner Jody Crump questioned County Engineer Clark Slacum if his department’s current chip spreader which is 13 years old could make it another year. Slacum replied that the current machine has several parts that are old, patched together, and susceptible to breaking down which can stop any road resurfacing that is being done. Crump asked what would be done with the current chip spreader when the new one is purchased, and Slacum said that it will be repaired even more during the winter and will then be their backup. The Court approved awarding the contract to R. B. Everett for $173,165. It was not the low bid submitted, but the machine approved for purchase was recommended by contractors who have used both machines that submitted bids. The low bid was for $152,000, but apparently is an inferior machine.
The request for the purchase of a projector and its installation in the courtroom of the Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 was tabled because the final bid numbers were not complete. The Court will consider the request at next week’s meeting when the bid should be complete.
Commissioners Tuesday approved moving Denisha Lowe from an Assistant to the Department Head for the Collections Department. Lowe although still listed as an assistant department head until this week had been running the department for the last two years and recently hired her own assistant. Lowe said she collects unpaid fines and unpaid court costs owed the county courts and helps defendants setup payment plans to pay installments back to the county. She is hopeful that with the new assistant she has hired they can generate some more money from defendants to pay back to the courts. The promotion to Department Head will increase Lowe’s salary by about $10,000.
The Commissioners Court voted to allow Regina Cameron in Records Management to promote a part-time employee in her department to a full-time position to replace an employee who has left the county. Cameron also wanted to hire a new part-time employee without waiting the six weeks which Commissioner Jody Crump opposed casting the lone dissenting vote. The Court did accept the exit inventory for outgoing Human Resources Director Minnie Hightower who served nine months in the position and is returning to Mississippi for a job in the private sector also involving human resources.
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