By Rupert Howell
Supervisors approved purchase and financing of three garbage trucks, sold three garbage trucks, approved  adopting the 2012 Residential International Building Code, inspected the Panola County Jail and a few other housekeeping chores during the last scheduled meeting of 2014 Monday in Batesville.

Sardis Mayor Billy Russell visited Monday’s meeting and let his objection be known to a current issue concerning combining two courthouses into one at a centralized location.

Russell’s comments came after North Delta Planning and Development District’s Executive Director James Curcio met with supervisors seeking parameters to conduct a feasibility study on combining courthouses.

Supervisors had agreed the week prior to commission the study and Curcio wanted to know how broad a study supervisors were seeking.

Russell was armed with a copy of state law that requires a courthouse in each judicial district and supervisors assured him that they were aware of the process.

The Sardis mayor also assured supervisors that many had voiced displeasure to him about the concept of closing the courthouses in favor of building a new one near the Panola County Airport which had  been mentioned as a central location.

“I’m getting negative vibes from the north part of the county,” Russell told supervisors and said he is also hearing from citizens in the northeast and northwestern part of the county.

“If we put it down by the airport, that’s not very centrally located to them,” Russell added.

District One Supervisor James Birge whose district encompasses Como and much of northeast Panola County said that he has heard a few complaints but added he had also received positive comments about consolidation of courthouses.

Purchase of three new garbage trucks was approved for $779,448 with BancorpSouth being the sole bidder for financing for 2.04 percent.

Three trucks currently used by the sanitation department brought a high bid of $171,000 each.
Bids on three Chevrolet Tahoes were rejected as all came in lower than expected. Supervisors discussed using them in other departments but took no action other than rejecting bids at the request of Sheriff’s Department Administrative Assistant Robbie Haley.

Supervisors approved hiring Steven Moore and Jeff McDonald at the jail and moving Mark Lott from part-time to full-time deputy.

No objections have been raised to adopting the more recent residential building codes recommended by Panola County Land Commission. Those codes update current 2006 International Building Codes and become effective January 1, along with exceptions made, also recommended by land commissioners.

After the meeting’s business had ended, supervisors adjourned to the Panola County Jail where they performed the annual inspection as required by law.

Jail administrator Bobby Meek gave supervisors a “walk-through” while explaining different sections and functions of the jail, its employees and different inmates.