[1/19/05]When they meet again Thursday, members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors will review a letter offering suggestions on how the 911 Commission might amend personnel policies about reporting grievances

District 1 Supervisor David McDonald, a member of the commission and president of the county governing board, said Tuesday the letter will reinforce changes the commission has already been discussing.

“The policies and procedures the 911 dispatchers and the commission operate under are over 20 years old and they needed updating,” he said.

McDonald’s comments came after an hourlong closed discussion by supervisors and their attorney during which no votes were taken. Further discussion of personnel matters at the 911 Dispatch Center created in 1988 and operated in partnership with the City of Vicksburg followed in open session.

Conflict arose in the center, located in the basement of the Warren County Courthouse, in October. In November, center director Alan Maxwell resigned. Since then, according to employee memos, an issue has been whether Kelly Worthy, Warren County Fire Coordinator and then chairman of the 911 Commission, and L.W. Callaway III, Warren County Emergency Management Office director and also commission member, acted to resolve what has been described as a verbal and physical confrontation between Maxwell and Peggy Wright, now interim director.

Worthy and Callaway are members of the commission by virtue of their county posts. The charter allots other seats to a supervisor, the sheriff of Warren County, the Vicksburg police and fire chiefs and the mayor of Vicksburg.

McDonald said board attorney Paul Winfield will draft the letter and have it ready for discussion Thursday. The letter will contain, he said, several suggestions on changes in policies and procedures on how center employees are to handle complaints when those complaints involve an employee’s immediate supervisor. The policy now says complaints must go up the chain of command.

A point of continuing contention has been whether Worthy informed other commissioners on the seriousness of the situation. He has stepped down as chairman, but remains a member of the commission since he continues as fire coordinator.

After the closed session Tuesday, District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders offered a motion to amend the 1988 charter to allow the board of supervisors the option of appointing three county supervisors to the commission instead of the volunteer fire coordinator and emergency management director.

District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield seconded, saying he agreed with the idea of allowing supervisors that flexibility.

During the discussion that followed, District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon said he disagreed.

“I am not going to vote for that motion,” he said. “I could vote for it if you changed it to say someone from those departments.”

District 5 Supervisor Richard George also dissented. “What you are saying is you have no confidence in the people you hired to be your emergency management director and you have no confidence in the person you hired to be volunteer fire coordinator,” he said.

Flanders withdrew the motion when asked by Mayfield, who said it might contradict the letter the board will review Thursday.

The staff at the 911 center answers all emergency calls and assign responses countywide. The center operates around the clock with 14 employees and a budget of about $800,000, funded by city and county allocations and fees collected on all fixed and mobile telephone bills.

In other business, the board:

Approved a resolution to allow International Paper to pay off two pollution control bond issues at the Vicksburg mill and reissue new bonds at a lower interest rate. The two bond issues total $5.95 million.

Ratified an action by the Warren County Port Commission for Falco Chemical to consolidate four lots it owns on the E.W. Haining Industrial Center into one lot to eliminate setback requirements on some of the property lines. The action will allow Falco and DTE PetCoke LLC to develop a plant to process petroleum coke, an investment of about $10 million.