[8/3/04]Several topics were on the agenda for Warren County supervisors at their business meeting Monday, including setting a date two weeks from now to hear protests of assessments on real and personal property.

The board received the tax rolls in early July from the Warren County Tax Assessor’s Office and then began the process of equalizing, or checking the rolls for accuracy. Following the board’s second official meeting in July, they declared the rolls available for inspection by property owners.

Notices of values set for tax purposes are not provided to landowners, but those who ask may learn the value set for taxes due Jan. 1 and, if they wish, appear before the board to object.

Protests must be presented in writing to be considered.

In a related matter, John Shorter, a local resident, read a statement protesting how Warren County establishes values.

Shorter said the county does not consider the effect inflation of property values and interest rates charged on mortgages have on what home purchasers have to pay per month. He also claimed that a supposed housing shortage is a fiction.

Following Shorter’s statement, District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield asked for a copy of the statement so it could be included in the board’s minutes for information. Mayfield then asked to meet with Shorter later.

The board also heard from Dorothy Stewart, a Warren County resident who has advocated reopening the Old U.S. 80 bridge to car traffic.

She said she was surprised and disappointed that all five members of the Vicksburg Bridge Commission voted to reopen the 74-year-old bridge as a biking trail and park, contrary to the vote five years ago when county voters voted in a nonbinding referendum to reopen the bridge to traffic.

“There was very little discussion or reason, just the vote,” Stewart said. Also, supervisors set 6 p.m. Sept. 13 as the time and date for a second public hearing on the proposed subdivision ordinance. The hearing will be in the board’s meeting room on the third floor of the courthouse.

Earlier this year, the board adopted a tentative subdivision ordinance designed to tighten up some of the features required of developers of new subdivisions in Warren County. Principal among the more stringent regulations deals with the streets and roads in subdivisions, requiring them to be built to county specifications from the beginning and outlawing the use of gravel roads in housing developments.

The board conducted a public hearing May 17, which was attended by about 45 people who made comments and suggestions on the proposed rules. Since then, board members and John McKee, county engineer, have been working to evaluate and incorporate the suggestions and comments.

Copies of the revised regulations will be available at the office of Chancery Clerk Dot McGee for those who wish to study the changes before the next hearing.

Also at the meeting, supervisors agreed to write a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District instructing the district to proceed with plans for a levee on Kings Point.

The levee was proposed to the county board about four years ago to help reduce flooding on agricultural land on Kings Point and along some of the lower reaches of the Yazoo River. The board contracted with the Vicksburg District under the district’s authority to perform small studies without formal authorization from the U.S. Congress. Supervisors met with district representatives in June and were told the study indicated the project to build a levee was feasible according to standards the Corps must use dealing with cost-benefit ratios. The county’s share of the project has been estimated at about $1.35 million of the estimated $3.5 million cost. The county has already invested $325,000 in the study.

At the June meeting, the Corps representatives told the county it may be a number of years before the district receives the needed appropriation and authorization for the federal share.

In other matters, the board:

Opened a bid from Prentiss Inc. of Hattiesburg for $246,982 to upgrade the county’s computer network with both hardware and software. The county last upgraded the computer network about five years ago at a cost of $151,365. The new upgrade will replace one central computer that is at the end of its life cycle and increase the memory capacity of that system. Another upgrade deals with the managing of the county’s PC network.

Rejected bids received for a diesel tractor truck for use by the Highway Department because the transmission specified is no longer available. They then authorized the Purchasing Department to revise the specifications and readvertise.

Approved two change orders totaling $54,442.60 on the River Region Medical Center slide repair project.

Authorized advertising for the Tucker Road paving project and for a secondary water line for River Region Medical Center.

Approved a list of charges for data from the county’s computer system. The county already had a schedule of charges for selling computerized voter rolls and the new schedule deals with other forms of information.

Adjourned until 9 a.m. Aug. 16.