Tombigbee leader discusses Kemper Lake with supes

The future of the recently dam­aged pavilion at Kemper Lake, and the future of the lake as a whole, become a central focus of conver­sation during the April 18 meeting of the Kemper County Board of Su­pervisors.

Drew Robertson, executive direc­tor of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District, came before the board to talk about the lake and its future. Tombigbee owns the property, while the Mis­sissippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries operates the lake. Kenny Mason, who manages Kemper Lake for MDWF, was in attendance as well.

Robertson reported that the fire-damaged pavilion was cleaned up down to the slab in Mid-April. He said it appears that there was not insurance coverage for the pavilion and the Board of Supervisors needed to decide how they wanted to go about replacing the facility, if that was their intention.

He said there were no estimates at this point because there were not any plans.

“That decision is yours,” Robert­son told the board. “I work for you.”

He said there were some funds designated through Tombigbee that could be used for the pavilion but advised they might be better used on other projects such as bridges. As long as it is water re­lated, Robertson said the funds could be used.

He said nothing was off the table when it comes to the future of Kemper Lake, including the possi­bility of putting the land into the hands of the county. “Anything is fair game here,” he said. “We want to be of a benefit to the county.”

Mason spoke up and said that as a resident of Kemper County that he thought the lake was in the best posi­tion it could be in, “be­cause we have three resources to pul from at this point.” He was making reference to Tombigbee, MPWF, and Kemper County governmental re­courses as well.

In a non-related matter the Board of Supervisors took no action in regards to the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act. Board attor­ney Rick Barry informed the board that if they took no action on the matter that whatever legislation had been passed would go into affect. No action was taken.

In other action the Kem­per County Board of Super­visors:

— Approval of Agenda with additions. (Vote 4-0, District 2 Supervisor Johnny Whitsett absent)

— Approval of Current claims (Vote 5-0. All votes unanimous unless other­wise noted)

— Approval of Payroll.

— Took Easement and Construction agreement between the Mississippi Transportation Commission and the Kemper County Board of Supervisors under advisement.

— Tabled declaring a va­cancy in the Office of Con­stable Post One.

— Tabled approving pay­ment to Tri-State Consult­ing Services for aded extra layers to website in the amount of $1,000 from the Board of Supervisors ac­count.

— Approved payment to Engineering Plus for Project for Neelytown Road.

— Approved payment to T.L. Wallace Construction Inc. for prestressed con­crete Beam Bridge and HMA Approaches Neely­town Road in amount of $53,937.29.

— Approved bid in the matter of Emergency Steel Pile Repair on Bridge on the Zion Road to Grant Blakeney, LLC in the amount of $49,700.

—Approved revised 2022 Road Plan.

— Authorized the Resolu­tion to adopt Senate Bill 2719 regarding raises for supervisors and other elected officials. (Vote 3-2, District 4 Supervisor Mike Luke and District 3 Supervi­sor Scott Johnson op­posed).

— Approved paying County Prosecutor for an involuntary commitment.

— Approved payment to Butler Snow for 2020 Redis­tricting for the Board of Su­pervisors districts, as well as Justice Court and Con­stables district in the amount of $7,521.18

— Approved travel for Lynn Keeton to attend the Justice Court Clerks Spring Conference for May 18-20 in Meridian.

— Approved travel for Marie Wilson, Veteran Serv­ice Officer, to travel to VSO training in Newton on May 18.

— Approved travel for Circuit Clerk Shirley Jack­son and Deputy Clerk Tot­setta Hearn to attend an election training on April 21 in Canton.