Tree Trimming Planned On County Roads
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Yalobusha County supervisors voted to purchase a Sky Trim tree cutting similar to the one above to trim limbs and trees lining county roads.
COFFEEVILLE – Yalobusha County supervisors are looking for a new employee to operate a tree trimmer purchased by the county. Supervisors approved the $25,500 purchase for a 2008 Sky Trim with an extended reach during a recessed board meeting at the Coffeeville courthouse on July 15.
The purchase price was split equally among the county’s five beats and the next step is to hire an operator to start cutting overhanging limbs and trees lining county roads. Supervisors are seeking applications for a part-time operator with experience operating heavy equipment to work 30 hours per week. Applications for this position can be obtained in the chancery clerk’s office in the Water Valley courthouse and must be turned in by 9 a.m. on August 19.
“It has to be somebody who knows what they are doing,” District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray said, citing the danger of hitting a power line with the elevated blade.
Supervisors have tentatively agreed to allow District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris to start cutting limbs in his beat first after an operator is hired. Harris has identified County Road 211 that connects Coffeeville and Oakland as the first road where the tree trimming will start.
Other activity in the July 15 meeting includes:
• EMA Director Stewart Spence and Deputy Director Jarred Logan presented a list of items on inventory that are no longer in service including two old trucks that had been used for fire fighting.
Logan explained that the trucks are actually owned by the Mississippi Forestry Service.
“Basically the Forestry Commission gave us those trucks to use, but they will always belong to the Mississippi Forestry Commission,” Logan said about the two trucks that will return to the state agency.
Logan also said the Mississippi Forestry Commission has a new program that allows the county to purchase a truck for $100.
• Spence and Logan received approval from supervisors to make changes to the county’s 911 dispatch center after multiple streets in the Town of Coffeeville were renamed by town officials. Logan said it will take time to make the changes in the software, mapping and AT&T services utilized at the dispatch center. The EMA directors manage the county’s dispatching center.
“Five street names have changed, right?” District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray asked.
“Yes, Louisiana, Indiana, part of Kennedy, Davis and Vaughn,” Logan answered.
Spence said they have also talked to the postal employees about the street name changes.
“The post office should be first,” Gray agreed.
“We talked to them, they told us that the city had has to update Google Maps because that is what the post office uses,” Spence explained.
Spence also shared that postal employees noted that the Town of Coffeeville has until August 5 to update Google Maps for the five street name changes.
“So people in the city are not getting mail?” Gray asked.
“After August 5 they will not get mail,” Spence said about the residents on the five streets.
• Coffeeville Chamber of Commerce President John Beshears requested that the county funding for the organization be increased from $500 to $1,000 per month. Beshears said the chamber previously received $1,000 per month from county funding.
Beshears explained that he was appointed president last December and an effort is underway to revitalize the organization. He also said Chamber members have cut expenses, measures that include housing the chamber office in the Coffeeville Courier building. He also said attendance at monthly chamber meetings is around 20 to 25 people.
“We are going to kick off our first fundraiser the first of August. It will be a community calendar,” Beshears said. “In order for the Chamber to be successful, we need money to function. What we are requesting in the new budget year is to go back to receiving $1,000 per month.”
“Do we contribute to the Water Valley Chamber?” Supervisor Harris asked.
“Yes, we contribute $500 (per month),” Chancery Clerk Donald Gray said.
“We cut their money back too, because we were in a deficient in our tax collections,” Washington said about the budget cut for Water Valley and Coffeeville chambers several years ago.
Harris also noted that Oakland has launched a Chamber of Commerce and does not receive funding from the county.
Following the discussion, Washington directed Beshears to put the request and writing and it will be considered during budget deliberations next month.
“I think we will take it under consideration. If we do for one, we have to do for others so that has to be taken into consideration,” Washington added.
• District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray requested an update from Beshears about the Coffeeville Fire Department. Beshears, who also serves as chief of the Coffeeville Fire Department, said the department may receive a lower fire rating in 2025. The department currently is a Class 7.
The Mississippi Rating Bureau uses a 10-point scale, with a Class 1 rating the strongest and a Class 10 rating the weakest. A lower fire rating can bring savings for insurance premiums.
