County Sets Permit Fee

By David Howell
Editor

COFFEEVILLE – Yalobusha supervisors set a fee for a developer’s permit that will be charged for any new home, mobile home, garage outbuilding, commercial building or home addition proposed in the county.

    The $25 fee is part of the county’s new flood ordinance adopted in July to  bring the county into compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

    The permit process sets in motion a new process required to determine if the structure is located in area designed at-risk for flooding.

    Once the  developer’s permit is purchased, the county’s Flood Ordinance Coordinator, Billy Hum-phreys, will determine if the new home, renovation, mobile home or other structure is located in an area designated at-risk for flooding.

    If the structure is outside the flood zone, the project will have no additional restrictions. However, if the project is located inside the flood zone, the developer must comply with the guidelines adopted in the new flood ordinance.

    The fee was set during the “first Monday” meeting held Nov. 1 in Coffeeville and followed the July vote to adopt the ordinance.

    Benefits identified with participation in the federal flood program include availability of conventional mortgages for people who have property in the flood zone. Prior to the adoption of the ordinance, Yalobusha was one of only two counties in the state not enrolled in the NFIP.

    Following the July vote, the new ordinance was forwarded to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for review by MEMA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

    Chancery Clerk Amy McMinn reported Tuesday, a day after the board meeting, that she had received a call from Mississippi Flood Plain Management Specialist Stacey Ricks, explaining that FEMA officials were requesting more information after receiving the county ordinance.

    McMinn reported that FEMA had questioned possible earlier  enrollment by the county in the NFIP from 1983 to 1988.

    “We are still researching this issue, but the county ordinance remains in effect,” McMinn said.

    For more information about the flood ordinance, contact Humphreys at 662-832-0432. To pick up an application for a  developer’s permit, see the Chancery Clerks office in Water Valley or Coffeeville.

    Other business conducted during the Nov. 1 meeting included:

    • Discussed a pending lease agreement between the county and Avery Outdoors.

    “Last meeting we dicussed Avery and probably that should have been done in executive session since that was a contractual matter,” District One Supervisor Tommy Vaughn said.

    “But we did discuss it and it got put in the paper that Mr. Hughes was delinquent on his .

    “He got current in his rent over there in Avery. In courtesy to him, I think we should show that he is current,” Vaughn added.

    “His legal staff is reviewing the lease agreement and will get back with us,” McMinn also said.