By Rupert Howell
Panola County needs Bob Barber’s input.
Monday night members of the Panola County Land Use Commission and Panola County supervisors met jointly to discuss the commission’s functions and purposes with members of both boards openly expressing opinions of expectations, shortfalls, lack of or too much control and whatever else came up.
It was a good meeting to the point that they agreed to meet again next month and invite planning consultant Bob Barber of Hernando to attend and answer questions and possibly give direction to both supervisors and commissioners.
The five elected supervisors appoint two commissioners from their respective districts to serve on the 10-member commission whose job it is to approve or disapprove applications for special exceptions to property classifications and to make recommendations for or against requested zoning changes.
Barber is not just another expert with a brief case from 50 miles up the road. He was hired by the county when the Land Use or planning commission was established years ago and until the last year or so guided them through their monthly meetings.
During tough economic times, some members of the board of supervisors recommended that he be cut to an “as needed” consultant status, and is now used sparingly to answer questions that arise with the county’s code enforcement officer Chad Meeks.
A Batesville native, Barber is known for his work not only regionally but nationally. He is familiar with our area as his family has real estate located throughout the city of Batesville and his mother, Mary Evelyn Barber has continued to reside in Batesville.
Even before he and his brother, Jim, were licensed to drive they explored rural Panola County, its roads and features. On Sunday afternoons they would persuade their parents to let them ride around in the family sedan and were told, “Only if you don’t cross the railroad tracks.”
The Barber brothers soon learned that one could travel all the way to Marks from their Green Acres Subdivision home without crossing a railroad track.
Meanwhile Barber has not only attended Ole Miss but has taught city and regional planning at the University of Memphis. Among other accomplishments, he has served as Hernando’s Director of Planning from 2006 through 2012 which not so incidentally coincides the that town being recognized as one of the top 100 small towns in America by Forbes magazine in 2012.
Barber’s credentials, both educational and professional experience, and close ties to the area make him a good fit for what was missing at Monday night’s meeting.
Commission member Woody Drake’s question, “If we’re called the planning commission, where’s our plan?” begs for an answer.
Professor Barber needs to be invited to Panola County to teach a refresher course and we need to learn from what he has to say.
And if we don’t like it, we can tell his momma.