By John Howell Sr.
Panola County Road Dept. workers have started clearing right-of-way for the connector route between Medical Center Drive and Pine Lodge Road.

Batesville city engineer Blake Mendrop told aldermen last week that the early stage of the joint city/county project was underway.

“You’re starting to see some trees come down out there,” Mendrop said.

In his report of other public works projects, Brocato Construction is about 80 percent complete with repair of a collapsed culvert and roadway behind Tri-Lakes Medical Center, Mendrop said.
Nearby, at a short connector road under construction just south of Zaxby’s, “they’ve got most of the dirt cut out; limestone’s going in; they’re forming up for curb and gutter right now,” the engineer said.

An ongoing project to replace existing city water meters with “smart meters” triggered a payment of $126,925.76 to contractor Delta Water. Ninety new meters had been installed on Nov. 4. City meter readers are expected to read meters both manually and via wireless until the entire city water system has been converted and the process proves viable, a spokesman for the city engineer said.

The Trussell Park walking trail will be lighted from 4 a.m. until daylight as well as in the evenings, City Clerk Susan Berryhill said.

“They all are still burning, last I checked,” Berryhill added.