Sheriff Receives Approval To Purchase Four New Cruisers
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Yalobusha County Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch (right) and deputy Jerry Ferguson provided details about budget requests during Monday’s Board of Supervisor meeting.
WATER VALLEY – The purchase of four new vehicles for the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department is the biggest boost in decades for a long depleted fleet. Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch received approval during Monday’s Board of Supervisor meeting to purchase two new Dodge Durango SUVs at a cost of approximately $77,000 and two new Ford F150 pickups at a cost of $98,610.
Gooch told supervisors that he has accumulated $81,000 in his lake patrol fund, money he receives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for patrolling portions of Grenada Lake and Enid Lake that are in Yalobusha County.
“In talking with some of your deputies, y’all are in dire straits for some vehicles,” District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray said before the unanimous vote authorizing the purchases. “The best deputy in the world is no good if he can’t get there.”
“Sheriff, I would save some of those bangers for some of those deputies who can’t drive too well,” Washington also joked.
The lake patrol funding will be used to pay for the Dodge SUVs and the Ford pickups will be financed. The sheriff sold multiple confiscated vehicles earlier this summer that helped provide almost $10,000 to apply to the purchase price of the pickups. Gooch also said the revenue stream coming to his lake patrol fund will be enough to make the payments on the Ford pickups.
The sheriff’s budget was a recurring topic during Monday’s budget meeting as supervisors reviewed expenditures, discussion that centered on deputies answering calls in Oakland and Coffeeville and the cost of dispatching for the two municipalities’ police departments.
The dispatching topic surfaced as supervisors cited a revenue stream that is declining. The 911 Service Fee is collected from landlines in the county, $1 for residential landlines and $2 for most commercial landlines. Also noted in Monday’s meeting is the county receives over $70,000 annually from the City of Water Valley for dispatching services while the Town of Coffeeville and the Town of Oakland does not pay.
“To offset (the cost of dispatching), we collect $70,000 from the City of Water Valley. I have heard that it rubs some feathers wrong because we don’t get funding from other communities in the county,” Washington said.
“It definitely rubs folks wrong,” Chancery Clerk Donald Gray said.
Gray previously served as mayor of Water Valley and explained that some residents in the city felt like other communities in the county should also pay the county for dispatching.
“We are opening that can up now,” District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris cautioned.
“Let’s kick the damn thing open,” Supervisor Gray said. “The Water Valley taxpayer who lives in the city wonders why the taxpayers who live in the other two municipalities aren’t paying anything.”
“I heard it a lot,” Donald Gray agreed.
Yalobusha EMA Director Stewart Spence told supervisors that other counties typically do not charge municipalities for dispatching services. Spence noted that the majority of 911 calls for police and fire protection originate in Water Valley.
“Then it is the sheriff’s department, and then it is the ambulance service,” Spence noted about the call volume.
The conversation then shifted to law enforcement coverage provided in Coffeeville and Oakland when city officers aren’t on duty.
Gooch noted that there are times, especially after 9 p.m. when Coffeeville and Oakland do not have an officer on duty and deputies respond.
No action was taken on the matters.
Other business in Monday’s meeting includes:
• Approved a request from District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris to advertise for bids for the purchase of a new backhoe.
“My backhoe won’t even go up the road,” Harris said.
• Approved a request from the Yalobusha General Hospital Board of Trustees to pledge up to 2.37 percent of their revenue for loan collateral.
Board Attorney Shannon Crow explained that the hospital trustees have the authority to borrow money, adding that the owner, Yalobusha County, must adopt a resolution authorizing the request.
Crow said the hospital has $438,000 in current debt service, which is 1.04 percent of their annual gross revenue. Monday’s request will allow an additional 1.33 percent of the gross revenue to be pledged for additional loans, for a total of 2.37 percent.
“The additional 1.33 percent will give them the authority to borrow what they need for the real estate they are buying and maybe some other things,” Crow explained.
• Authorized Water Valley artist Bill Warren to paint the signs in front of the Water Valley and Coffeeville courthouses. The cost breakdown is $700 for the Water Valley sign and $750 for the Coffeeville sign.
“If you look at the signs in front of both courthouses, they are pitiful,” Chancery Clerk Donald Gray said.
Gray also said the signs will be sanded and painted.
“I think it is a good idea, they do look rough,” Supervisor Washington noted before the unanimous vote.
• Discussed purchasing window shades for the courtroom in the Water Valley courthouse at a cost of $10,326.80. The matter was tabled.
