By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
March 26, 2001
Local engineers know what Senate Bill 2318 means to people in East Central Mississippi.
The bill, awaiting action from Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, allows supervisors to spend up to 25 percent of their State Aid funding on non-state aid roads.
Terrell Temple, State Aid engineer serving Lauderdale, Kemper and Noxubee counties, said he is extremely pleased with the bill.
Even without extra funding, he said the bill will allow counties State Aid funding for addressing special problems.
He said the bill may be more beneficial to counties with fewer funds, like Kemper. Kemper County has fewer miles of rural roads, but also has significantly less money, he said.
Temple said the first step in using newly-allotted money on local roads is defining standards to which the roads must be improved.
He said Lauderdale County roads that could qualify for the funding are spread all over the county.
District 3 Supervisor Craig Hitt said "any help we could get" would be beneficial. Since paving roads is a goal, he said there are "always places to use the money."
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.