The Lincoln County Board of Supervisorsaccepted bids Monday for a countywide road striping project thatcould begin in as soon as two weeks, according to county engineerJeff Dungan.

    Chris Dixon, a State Aid representative for Southwest Mississippi,approved and presented four bid packages for the 50-mile project,which was estimated to cost $217,197.47.

    The board went with the lowest bidder, J.C. Cheeks Contractors,Inc., out of Kosciusko, who came in with a bid at $198,185.57.

    “After adding 5 percent to the bid price for contingency purposesand fees for the engineers, it brings the total to $231,900,” Dixonsaid.

    The other bidders included Traffic Control Products, Inc., who bid$206,277.69; Lane Line, LLC, who bid $227,238.34; and RobbieRobinson, Inc., with a bid of $239,994.46.

    The board had almost no discussion as to whose bid to accept, goingwith the lowest cost.

    “This is a simple job,” Dixon said. “It’s a safety project, and I’mhere to make sure the state’s best interests are met.”

    Dungan, who made phone calls to bidders after the packages wereopen, said J.C. Cheeks would most likely be able to start thestriping on selected roads throughout the county in two weeks.

    “They can probably start as early as today getting the mapsprepared,” he said Monday.

    At least one of the other bidders would not have been able to startuntil as late as next March, according to Dungan.

    In other county business, the board heard from Lincoln County CivilDefense Director and Fire Coordinator Clifford Galey aboutupgrading the Loyd Star Volunteer Fire Department’s fire gradingdistrict.

    The Mississippi State Rating Bureau currently has the district as acertified Class 10 district. Galey said his and the firedepartment’s current proposal would lower that to a Class 9.

    “This would require insurance companies writing fire insurance inthe district to lower the homeowners’ fire premium,” Galeysaid.

    After hearing Galey’s proposal and seeing the required number ofsignatures from property owners inside the district, the boardapproved to proceed with the action and will set a public hearingto inform the public and hear any questions or comments.

    The Rev. Jerry Wilson, District One supervisor, and other boardmembers discussed the possibility of putting up a guard rail nearEast Lincoln Road and Mallalieu Drive.

    “We’ve been having some bad wrecks happen in that same spot,”Wilson said. “Can we see about putting some railing there?”

    Galey said a guard rail would probably keep people from running offinto a nearby culvert. However, his concern was the possibility ofa car bouncing off the railing and heading into oncomingtraffic.

    The board took no action, but decided to keep the idea in mind forlater discussions.

    County Administrator David Fields said the deadline for approvingthe final budget for the previous year is the end of October.

    “We’ll be working on that this month, of what we took in and whatwe spent,” Fields said. “Possibly, we’ll have it ready for the nextboard meeting.”

    The next board meeting is Monday, Oct. 17, at 9 a.m. in theboardroom of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Government Complex.