Supervisors clarify local purchasing policy limits

During its regular first meeting of the month held this past Monday, the Kemper County Board of Supervisors quickly cleared up confusion on how much the county could spend monthly with local businesses. 

Tooney Hill, owner of Tooney’s Tire Center in DeKalb, said he was told that the county could no longer spend more than $5,000 with his business in a month and would have to take the rest of their business out of county. 

Several of the board members, including District 2 Supervisor Johnny Whitsett, were very upset with that news. All four board members present — Whitsett, Pat Granger of District 1, Scott Johnson of District 3, and Chris Cole of District 5 said that was not the county’s policy. 

County Road Manager Glenn Williams said he had heard of the issue and that it had already been corrected. An employee of the county had apparently misunderstood the state guidelines that say a single purchase order could not be fore more than $5,000 without a bid. 

“We have it taken care of,” Williams said, indicating that the employee understood the guidelines now. 

In another matter that surfaced two weeks ago, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract between the. City of Meridian and the Kemper/Neshoba Regional Correction Facility to house the city prisoners for $36 per day. When the contract was brought up two weeks ago Kemper County Sheriff James Moore, who oversees the prison, said the proposed contract was unacceptable. After looking over the revised contract the sheriff told the board that he could house the inmates under that agreement. 

In other action the Kemper County Board of Supervisors: 

— Approved board minutes for the month of September, current and end of the month claims for September, and payroll; — Approved payment to Engineering Plus for six invoices totaling just over $61,000; — Approved paying Cooper Construction Services for work on the Production Area Renovation of the Emilia Resources building in the amount of $106,032.44; — Approved the payment of $175,518.20 to TerryMark, Inc. for work on the Kemper County Courthouse Annex (former Dollar Store); — Approved paying Waggoner Engineering $5,711 for professional fees related to the Kemper Crossing Infrastructure project and Greenbriar $74,981.22 for Kemper Crossing Off-Site Utility Improvement; — Awarded bids to Elmer Talbert Trucking for $13,290 for 300 tons of Crush and Run and $61,980 for 2,000 tons of Wash Gravel; — Hired Richard Charles Bryant as a motor grader operator; — Approved the bid of $9,659.28 for the purchase of a hot food serving counter/table for Kemper Neshoba Regional Correctional Facility; — Approved two inter-fund transfers; — Approved paying Butler Snow $7,033.75 for 2020 redistricting work; Accepted quote form Woodall Electric for five new flat panel LED lights at the Mike McKee Building for $1,700; — Approved payment of $1,192.27 for ADA improvements on the Kemper County Courthouse; — Approved payment of $40,000 to Wes Kight and Associates for Appraisal Billing; — Approved the purchase of a Poll Pace Scanner and Tabulator in the amount of $5,680. 

The Kemper County Board of Supervisors went into executive session to discuss personnel matters and potential litigation. No votes were taken.