By John Howell Sr.

Three years ago the Town of Crenshaw’s monthly bills totaled almost $90,000, with almost half of the amount owed to Panola County Solid Waste for past due payments for garbage collection.

Turnout gear for Crenshaw’s volunteer firemen was either obsolete or lacking altogether.
Only one of the town’s three water wells was working, and it was threatening to quit. Problems with the municipal sewage treatment system often brought contractors with emergency pumps and equipment to keep it from failing altogether.

The police department was lacking equipment and unable to attract officers who would stay.

The list of problems was seemingly endless and the list of unpaid additional creditors lengthy.
Fast forward to 2012. Crenshaw’s payments to the Solid Waste department are current as are its other monthly debts.

“We are able to pay all bills at the beginning of the month, after the docket is approved,” Crenshaw municipal clerk Renee Ward said.

After Crenshaw Fire Chief Lee Duncan encountered obstacles in the former administration when he requested new protective gear for his department, he applied for a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). His application landed a $98,000 firefighter assistance grant. The FEMA grant and a second grant in 2009, for $1,000 from Walmart, provided momentum toward additional success with grants the following year, Crenshaw Mayor Oscar Barlow said.

During 2010, the town which lies partly in Quitman County, partly in Panola County and near the corners of Tate and Tunica counties as well, landed a $43,700 Small Municipal Grant and a $27,404 grant to help town officials remedy the problems with town wells and the sewer lagoon. Another $18,000 came to Crenshaw through a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG).

Then last year Crenshaw town officials, working with North Delta Planning and Development District (NDPDD) representative Jeff Walters, landed over $800,000 in grants through various sources: A Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to further rehabilitate sewer lines, an MDA grant to build three new homes and purchase one new mobile home.

In addition, Crenshaw police now patrol in two new cars — the first brand new police cars the town has owned in years — purchased through a USDA grant. Additional police equipment purchased through grants have better equipped officers, and Otis Griffin’s administration as police chief has helped bring stability to the department, according to the mayor.

“Their morale is up, and they show appreciation for the job,” the municipal clerk said.

The grant money received during the last three years totals almost $1 million, but the successful applications are no accident, NDPDD Director James Curcio said.

“It they didn’t have their audits up-to-date, they wouldn’t have a chance,” according to Curcio.

Behind the scenes, Barlow and Ward, with the backing of aldermen and women Patricia Dodson, Alberta Bradley, David Whitsell, Ronnie Perry and Wardell Reed, have worked to complete audits that were lacking when their current terms began in 2009 and to keep them current, Barlow said.

Infrastructure improvements have also included facelifts on town property: the town hall building is newly-painted, remodeled and renovated as is the town board’s meeting room across the street. The police station adjoining the meeting room has been remodeled as well.

Nearby, Crenshaw’s library has undergone renovation through a grant, “… through their regional office, not the town, but God had provided the blessing on all our behalf,” Ward said.

The fire station has received a new roof and is getting a new coat of paint as well, according to the mayor.
Long-term, Barlow said he hopes to see renovation along the Highway 3 business corridor, Crenshaw’s main street, that would include a restaurant where “you can sit down and eat a good meal. Not ungrateful for the fast food places, we have to have something for more variety — would be great,” Barlow said.

“We have great traffic heading to Tunica, coming right through Tunica,” the mayor added.

“I think things seem to be a lot better with Oscar’s administration,” said Crenshaw resident Sam Presley who frequently attended meetings of the mayor and aldermen when the town was in its dire financial straits during the previous administration.

However, Presley questioned the wisdom town officials exhibited with their vote to rescind an ordinance restricting mobile homes in the town.

“It is what it is now, they’ve amended the ordinance. I just hope they will enforce what we have in place and don’t back down,” Presley added, referring to mobile home appearance and placement requirements included with the amended ordinance.

Barlow said lifting the restrictions was necessary because current economic conditions put the cost of buying conventional housing out of reach for many residents.