In early January, newly elected Sheriff Mario Magsby and Coahoma County Emergency Management Director Charles Hale, said they wanted a one-stop, consolidated dispatching center.
That began Wednesday, Feb. 7, with the hiring of three dispatchers, with plans to hire three more.
The wages will come out of the county’s communication budget. Hale said to get two on duty at all times they will need eight dispatchers.
Hale and Magsby said dispatchers will be trained and certified. Hale said the county was able to hire a certified dispatcher. Hale said dispatchers will report to him and Magsby said he had plenty to do and had no problem with that.
Hale and Magsby said they continue to clean things up at the Coahoma County Justice Center.
Magsby is to meet with Supervisors in Executive Session Thursday morning to address issues with equipment, facilities and personnel.
“We formed an interview board and had them screen candidates,” said Hale. “Every department sent someone and we even invited the city, but it was during the ice storm and they didn’t send anybody.”
Hale said 12 people were interviewed for the posts and they will be asked to submit their resume in the next round
Hale said the interview board will be reactivated
Magsby said the move is complex, won’t happen immediately and will take a lot of coordination between the Sheriff’s Department, EMA, Supervisors, Pafford Ambulance Service and the Coahoma County Volunteer Fire Department.
Magsby said at some point in the future he would hope the Clarksdale Fire Department and Clarksdale Police Department might find it to their advantage to join in a centralized dispatch center.
Hale and Magsby said there are critical communication issues that need to be addressed. Both said either there has been significant neglect of maintenance or there was outright damage done to county communication equipment at the Sheriff’s department.
“As a law enforcement officer, I have to have facts and evidence before I move forward,” Magsby said in January. “I will say this, we are looking seriously at this and will move forward if we do find the evidence we need to file charges. If it can be proved, we will bring it before this board and ask it be turned over to the state to prosecute this.”
Magsby said computers were apparently disabled at the Sheriff’s Department, files and information are missing and county property – specifically guns – are missing and vehicles are not running. A similar situation apparently occurred with Sheriff Charles Jones was first elected.
Hale pointed out EMA will snip the ribbon at the County’s Weather Radar Center at 10 a.m. Feb. 21. He said the city and all department heads have been invited.
He said the ceremony will last 30-minutes.
Hale said he has repeatedly been asked if the public will have access to the weather radar.
“No,” said Hale. “We do send all our data to the National Weather Service in Memphis and the public can access weather radar there.”
Hale said the communication’s tower at the Jail is not working.
Magsby asked in January the County Inventory Clerk be allowed to work extra to document what is at the Sheriff’s Department and its condition. He asked that the building, which is less than three years old also be inspected for damages and safety issues.
Magsby said he needed to get the department functional and communications was critical. Hale said E911 would need to be executed in phases and dispatching for the Sheriff’s Department would be a priority. He added it would take time to see what equipment is needed, train personnel and establish a system that served Coahoma County well.
In other business:
• Dist. 4 Supervisor Jesse Harris said he is still looking for updates on ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. Andrew Smith, ARPA Consultant, who was not at Wednesday’s meeting.
Smith did submit an invoice for $7,000 for January.
“I want the nuts and bolts of his contract,” said Harris.
Harris and Young voted not to pay Smith until he provided the data they requested. President and Dist. 2 Supervisor Pat Davis, Dist. 1 Supervisor Paul Pearson and Dist. 3 Supervisors Derrell Washington voted to pay Smith.
“We owe him the money and we need to pay it,” said Washington. “We do need to look at this.
Smith said in January there had apparently been some kind of mistake made in filing for APRA funds on the ARPA Portal. Smith said Coahoma County showed a balance of about $6 million when the county had only been allocated $4.29 million.
Supervisors Washington asked what happened and was told by Smith is could have been something as simple as transposing numbers or a simple typo. Smith said the portal requires login documentation when someone accesses the data and funding.
• The Board was approached by residents at Moon Lake saying something needed to be done about speeding in residential areas.
Pearson said some people want speed bumps on Moon Lake Road and some people don’t. Pearson said just putting down an asphalt hump can be dangerous.
“Speed bumps penalize everyone,” said Pearson. “If they are not properly engineered and installed, the county can be liable for an accident.”
Pearson said yellow, rubberized speed devices can be purchased for about $650.
Pearson said he wanted a list of where people wanted them and he would have the county engineer look at it.
County Fire Chief Stanley Lynom said there are four speed bumps in Moon Lake and five in Friars Point and fire trucks loaded with water have to slow down and creep over them.
