Supervisors to help city seek grant

Published 12:15 pm Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to apply for a Community Development Block Grant on behalf of the city of Brookhaven.

Allen Laird, planner for the Southwest Mississippi Development District, told the supervisors the grant would help pay for adding homes on Brown Loop and possibly Crooked Lane to the city water and sewer system. The homes are in a previously annexed area.

“All I need from you is a memorandum of agreement,” Allen told the supervisors Monday. “The grant is due a week from Friday.”

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The supervisors voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

“It will be a blessing for the people,” the Rev. Jerry Wilson, District One supervisor, said following the meeting.

The dollar amount for the grant has yet to be determined but it will require by a match from the city. Brookhaven already has a block grant, and a government entity can only have one at a time. The grant will be through the Mississippi Development Authority.

“The most you can apply for is $600,000,” said Allen Laird, planner for the Southwest Mississippi Development District.

In other action at the meeting, the supervisors:

• Accepted $123,533.45 bid from Oddee Smith Construction Inc. for a box culvert on the Greenview Trail. The concrete box culvert bridge will replace an existing timber bridge.

• Heard from Lincoln Civic Center director Quinn Jordan about the Mississippi Spring Fest and Fair coming up May 7-11. The fair will host a variety of events including live entertainment, rodeo night and carnival rides. On Sunday, a special Mother’s Day concert with gospel and blues music is scheduled. The Civic Center Facebook page is hosting contests for free ride wristbands. For more information, you also can visit www.lincolnciviccenter.com.

• Heard from Wykeshia Johnson-Bracey, who is applying for a grant for an assisted living facility for elderly and vulnerable adults in the southern Lincoln County and Bogue Chitto areas. It would also serve as a senior citizen’s center for local residents, she said. Johnson-Bracey said she also plans to address the youth of the area by proposing a Tri-county YMCA in the future.

• Paid $387.50 invoice for printing new district maps to be used in various county offices.