Oktibbeha County Administrator Don Posey doesn’t expect Monday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting to be nearly as contentious as the last couple meetings and is hoping for a mild “pre-holiday meeting.”
“We have had a string of long ones here lately, so I am looking for an easy one,” he said.
A June 25 public hearing on the possible sale of the Oktibbeha County Hospital drew a crowd of more than 60 concerned citizens, nearly all of whom stood in opposition to the sale.
Even so, the board passed a motion to seek consulting companies to evaluate OCH, one of the steps required by the state in the sale of a county-owned hospital. The motion passed 3 to 2 with District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson and Board President Marvell Howard voting in opposition and District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer, District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams voting to approve.
Like Posey, Howard said he also isn’t expecting much controversy tomorrow.
“This will be a pretty laid back meeting I think,” Howard said. “We don’t have very much on the agenda, just kind of the usual as far as I know.”
Trainer said, other than a couple of funding requests, the board will really just be focused on routine monthly dealings.
“It’s really just us paying some bills,” he said. “We will have an engineering report and a report from the road manager, but, for the most part, the items don’t rate really high on the radar screen, because most of this stuff is just routine stuff each month.”
Last Monday, the board also set a public education session concerning the possible OCH sale for July 9.
Tomorrow’s meeting likely will be the calm before the July 9 storm, if last week’s turn-out was any indication. Trainer expects a crowded boardroom, and wants to make sure the public understands the options being presented.
“At this point it’s just kind of a preliminary thing,” he said. “It’s just to kind of give people an idea of what other communities in the state are doing and to try and speak on what we can do.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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