Bridge repairs set to start this week
Repairs are expected to start this week on a bridge closed last October by inspectors over an abandoned railroad line that will temporarily re-open the road between Union and Madden until an an estimated almost $2 million replacement can be constructed.
Neshoba County supervisors accepted a $27,820 repair bid from McKee Construction on the Road 210 bridge during their April 19 meeting.
The bridge, which overpasses the unused Kansas City Southern railway connector from Union to Sebastopol, must be replaced and meet railroad standards, even though the railroad isn’t using the line and has no plans to do so, officials said.
While the bridge is closed, it is causing an 11-mile detour for many residents in the area.
Supervisors have put the $1,964,000 replacement project in line, they said.
“This is going to start the process,” said County Administrator Jeff Mayo. “Once we get it approved by the office of State Aid Road Construction, it will start the process of design and engineering wetlands, environmental studies and start the engineering and design process.”
The bridge is just off of Highway 492 west of Union on what is also known as Ideal Store Road and the Union-Madden Road. The bridge was undergoing routine inspection by contracted bridge inspectors when it was closed.
The bridge will have to be inspected again before it can reopen to traffic, officials said.
In other matters during the April 19 meeting, supervisors voted to:
• Approve the hiring of three new correction officers for the jail, the resignation of two correctional officers, and the change in status from full-time to part-time for two officers.
• Supervisors also accepted the meal log and detailed billing report from the jail.
• Approve a request from Central Water Association for a road bore.
• Approve a school bus turnaround for the Neshoba County School District.
• Approve the hiring of two full-time telecommunicators for Emergency Management, and the resignation of a part-time telecommunicator.
• Approve travel request for the Justice Court Clerk Spring 2021 Hybrid Conference May 6 and 7 at Silver Star Convention Center.
• Approve membership requests for the Mississippi Justice Court Clerk’s Association for Justice Court Clerk Kim Yates ($150) and deputy clerks Patsy Long and Twyla Lovern ($50 each).
• Approve a request from the District Attorney’s office for a supplemental salary for Investigator Carolyn Ford-Jones and a pay raise request for paralegal Lisa Nowell.
• Approve the county employees payroll ending April 5 and totaling $173,786.
• Approve the elected officials payroll ending April 15 and totaling $55,895.
• Approve payment of the out of order claims and the claims docket.
• Accept and approve the VISA travel card April 2021 — $5,292.
• Accept and execute the Small Municipality and Limited Population Counties Grant for improvements to Road 236 Grant No. SM-20-1035.
• Approve the request of Neshoba County’s Miss Hospitality Landry Payne to advertise in Miss Hospitality Mississippi Program – 1/2 page ad for $175.
• Approve the observance of Confederate Memorial Day Holiday on Monday, April 26.
• Supervisors were notified by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History that the Booker T. Washington School’s nomination to the registry of historic places has been approved.