Supervisors discuss private roads; update on the weir at Walkiah Bluff on Pearl River

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors discussed private roads and the maintenance of those roads during Wednesday's meeting.

The Supervisors are planning to take action to ensure that all people who purchase land that is on a private road are made aware that the county is not responsible for maintenance of those. Many purchasers assume that just because a road is part of an area being developed with numerous houses, that road will be maintained by the county. In truth, the responsibility falls back on the owners. The developer of the properties on private roads must submit a road maintenance plan that defines who will be responsible for the road and adjacent land, like easements.

The Supervisors received an update from County Engineer Les Dungan and County Administrator on the Pearl River Weir near Walkiah Bluff. The weir water diversion canal has been failing over the past few years and it effectiveness in diverting water down the Pearl River has become almost non-existent.

Lumpkin stated he had received a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries. The agreement, once finalized, would put an agreement in place with the MDEQ, the U.S. Corp of Engineers, Wildlife and Fisheries, and Pearl River County that would name Pearl River County as the project sponsor. The MOU will also grant Pearl River County access to manage the trust fund that was set aside years ago by the state of Mississippi to make repairs and changes to the weir. That fund has approximately $4.5 million dollars that must be spent specifically on the weir repairs and maintenance.

Dungan said with this agreement in place with the state, Pearl River County could move forward with plans to begin the process of getting contractors in place to assist in the formation of and eventually implementation of a project plan to fix the long standing problems with the waterway diversion.