Supervisors Address Roof Leaks, Grants And Burial Policy
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WATER VALLEY – Yalobusha County supervisors worked through a wide-ranging agenda Monday, August 18, in Water Valley, tackling topics from courthouse roof repairs and economic development to road adoptions before closing the session with two matters in executive session.
Supervisors approved bids from Marchbanks Specialty Co., the low bidder on two projects, to repair leaking roofs at both the Coffeeville courthouse and the old jail on Calhoun Street in Water Valley. The courthouse work, which covers leaks over the vault, will cost $9,931, compared to a competing bid of $11,875 from Dixie Roofing. The old jail roof will be replaced for $26,703, with Marchbanks again submitting the low bid against Dixie’s $29,975. Supervisors noted the building may eventually be gutted and repurposed to store county records. “Yes, we have a storage problem,” District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris said, after Board President Cayce Washington raised the idea.
Yalobusha County Economic Development Executive Director Kagan Coughlin briefed the board on a request to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for grant money to build a new 911 call center. He explained that ARC would not score this type of project highly, meaning it was unlikely to be funded and leaving supervisors to consider other possibilities.
Board President Cayce Washington acknowledged an ongoing effort to find an alternate location to house the dispatchers, as they currently work inside the Yalobusha County Detention Center.
Supervisors also discussed whether ARC or other agencies might help fund weather alert sirens or storm shelters. Harris suggested three sirens—one each in Oakland, Scobey, and Enid—at $50,000 apiece. District 5 Supervisor Gaylon Gray agreed that the west side of the county is growing and would benefit from improved coverage. Gray also raised the need for a storm shelter in the Wayside community, noting that residents there must currently drive to Rosebloom in Tallahatchie County to access a public shelter during severe weather. Supervisors floated the idea of three shelters at about $150,000 each, with Coughlin agreeing to check on funding possibilities.
Coughlin also updated supervisors on development in Coffeeville. Following a meeting with Coffeeville Mayor Brad Ayers, Coughlin said a new grocery store is expected to open in early 2026.
The store will be locate in the building that formerly housed Piggly Wiggly on Okahoma Street. Coughlin also said work continues to bring a bank back to the town after Renasant Bank closed its branch in 2023 and donated the building to the town. He said two institutions had explored opening but were purchased by larger banks before moving forward.
Another discussion at the August 18 meeting centered on a $4,753 bill submitted by Townes Funeral Home for the burial of Larry Spearman, with no local relatives who had only recently moved to the county. County policy provides $1,000 for indigent burials, an amount usually applied toward cremation.
Chancery Clerk Donald Gray said the funeral home wanted to make sure Spearman received a proper burial and had held his remains for two weeks while searching for relatives or a church willing to donate a plot. Gray added that the funeral home was prepared to absorb part of the expense.
Supervisors acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but warned against setting a costly precedent. “I don’t want to run a lot of cost on the funeral home, but we are on a slippery slope if we start paying different amounts to funeral homes,” Washington noted.
Following the discussion, supervisors voted to authorize the county’s standard $1,000 payment for the burial.
The board also approved two road adoptions in District 4 after requests from Supervisor Eddie Harris.
The first involved a private road in the Deerwood Park Subdivision, located off Highway 32 east of Oakland. Lee Taylor had originally asked the county back in March to adopt the road so it could be added to the county registry and maintained with public funds. At that time, supervisors requested County Engineer Karl Grubb to inspect the road and determine if it met county specifications.
Harris reported that Grubb had completed the inspection. “We talked about it and Karl went and looked at it,” Harris said before making the motion to accept the road, which passed unanimously.
Supervisors also voted to adopt the remaining portion of County Road 179. Harris explained that the full length of the road is six-tenths of a mile, but only three-tenths of a mile had ever been listed on the county’s official road registry. In practice, the county has been maintaining the entire road for years. The motion to add the missing section was also approved unanimously. “It is a good, wide road,” Harris told the board.
After an hour and a half in open session, supervisors entered executive session to discuss potential litigation involving the Gums Crossing bridge and salary matters for emergency management. Following discussion in the closed session of the meeting, supervisors approved $500 monthly raises for both the Emergency Management Agency director and deputy director. The vote for the raises was 4 – 1, with supervisor Gray casting the dissenting vote.
