Board to meet about COVID policies

 The Kemper County Board of Su­pervisors made short work of a lengthy agenda, taking care of the main part of the business in Mon­day morning’s meeting in less than 30 minutes. The longest part of the meeting took place in following 45 minutes when the board had a back-and forth discussion about COVID-19 policies including whether or not masks should be required in county buildings, and what the policy should be due to COVID-related absences by em­ployees.

No vote was taken on the matter with the board eventually deciding to recess until Monday, Jan. 10, at 10 a.m. to take up the matter. Also on the agenda for Monday will be the salary structure for the road and bridge department.

The board of supervisors com­pleted two pages of votes with all being unanimous but two.

District 3 Supervisor Scott John­son was elected Vice President of the board of supervisors on a 4-1 vote, with District 2 Supervisor Johnny Whitsett voting against.

Sherline Watkins was ap­proved as Interim County Administrator on a 4-1 vote with District 5 super­visor Chris Cole voting against.

In other action the Kem­per County Board of Su­pervisors:

— Approved the Agenda.

— Approved board min­utes of December, 2021.

— Approved current and end of month claims for December, 2021.

— Approve payroll.

— Awarded bid for County Depository to Commercial Bank.

— Authorized comptrol­ler to create a separate general ledger fund for the ARCT Grant money with a budget of $250,000 for revenue and expenses.

— Authorized board president to sign the grant agreement for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Proj­ect Number 1138-21-035-PF-01 for a total of $675,000 for Courthouse handicap accessibility.

— Order approving pay estimate number (1) final for Project #20-514 for Emergency Repair of Bridge on Shiloh Church Road in the amount of $11,200.

— Order approving meal log for Kemper-Neshoba Regional Cor­rectional Facility for the month of December 2021.

— Order approving all expenses incurred for Sheriff’s Department for the month of December 2021.

— Order approving tag registration tag renewal notice in the amount of $14.75 for Kemper County Sheriff’s Depart­ment.

— Order approving fire department inventory list to be declared surplus and removed from county inventory.

— District 1 Supervisor Pat Granter was elected board president.

— Order approving the first and third Mondays (except of an official state holiday) at 10 to be desig­nated time for the Board of Supervisors monthly meetings.

— Approved appointing of the following individu­als” Barry, Thaggard, & May LLP, Board attorney; Terrell Temple, county en­gineer; Sherline Watkins, Board Secretary; Polly Medcalf, comptroller; Glenn Williams, road man­ager; Johnny Ray Brown, assistant road manager; Ben Dudley, county fire coordinator/emergency management director/deputy coroner; Janet Leonard, purchas­ing clerk; Stephanie Green, financial clerk; Shirley Jackson, receiving clerk; Tommy Luke inven­tory control clerk/project manager; Care Hampton, county patrolman; Jen­nifer Lewis, accounts payable/payroll clerk; Cheryl Lynn Keeton, rustic court clerk; Grayling Blanks, maintenance worker; Lewis Johnson, maintenance worker; Aimee Cole, Shekelia Mc­Clendon, Lisa Stovall, Linda Edwards, Keith Odom, Deputy receiving Clerks; Latisha Campbell, ,Totsseta Hearn, and Stephanie Green, Deputy Purchasing Clerks.

— Approved the follow­ing individual to issue req­uisitions: Sheriff James Moore, Sandra Smoot, Herschel Barefield, Glenn Williams, Johnny Brown, Sherline Watkins, Malikah Jones, Cheryl Lynn Kee­ton, Jennifer Lewis, Tommy Luke, Polly Med­calf, Margaret Ann Jack­son, and Jocelyn Robertson.

— Approved contract for Barry, Thaggard, & May as legal counsel (board attorney) for Kem­per County Board of Su­pervisors.

— Approved the second quarter appropriations for the Sheriff’s Office and the Tax Assessor/Collec­tor’s Office.

— Removed Rachel Dale from garbage pickup.

— Approved Road and Bridge Safety Workshop for Jan. 20.

— Order approving Monday, Jan. 17, as a hol­iday for county employees in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert E. Lee birthdays.