By Billy Davis

A résumé deadline came Monday for a new hiring in Panola County government.

The new employee will serve as flood plain manager and county building inspector, a full-time position.

The new job will begin October 1 to coincide with the beginning of the fiscal year. The pay rate was advertised between $35,000 and $45,000.

Ten  résumés were turned in by the 9 a.m. deadline yesterday, Panola EMA director Daniel Cole told supervisors, who were meeting in Sardis.

Supervisors directed Cole to whittle the résumés to three finalists, who will then be interviewed by the board.

The county board also asked Field Dew, a Department of Health employee, to help Cole review résumés, since Dew works closely with the Panola County Land Development Commission. The new employee will likely work with the land commission and Dew.

Supervisors and the land commission are working together to introduce residential building codes, which facilitated the hiring of a building inspector.

The need for a flood plain manager came after the Miss. Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) informed Panola County that it requires a county employee to oversee flood plain maps of the region.

Panola County has traditionally designated that job to its county engineer, who is a contract employee.

An audit by MEMA found 11 “deficiencies” that must be corrected by the new hire, Cole has told The Panolian.

In other county business:

•Sheriff Hugh “Shot” Bright requested that supervisors advertise for bids for the feeding of jail prisoners. The “kitchen contract” has expired, he said. 

The sheriff’s department had considered providing the food service with its own staff but eventually nixed that idea due to cost.

The meals have been provided by Reed Buntin, who has won the contract for many years. But Buntin has been unsure about continuing the service, supervisors have said.

•Administrator Kelley Magee said county government has received reimbursement for insurance payments on the Rolando food plant in Crenshaw.

The county has received $5,900 for 2006 and 2007, she said. Payments for 2008 and 2009 are pending, she said.

Magee had discovered that Panola County had been paying the insurance even after the plant was deeded to Roland Butler.

Local insurance agent David Woods, of Whitten Insurance, had used Zurich for the insurance policies.

•Supervisors viewed a garbage truck, equipped with a mechanical arm for loading trash cans, during a break in their meeting.

Supervisors expect to purchase a new truck as a backup vehicle for Solid Waste. 

Employees of River City company demonstrated the mechanical arm and other features of the vehicle. 

A new truck, if purchased with the mechanical device, would allow it operate without inmate labor.

The vehicle costs $230,000, Magee said. The current fleet of four trucks cost $180,000 each, she said.