Tunica County supervisors approve energy-efficiency contract, arena management deal and several grant applications

Tunica County Board of Supervisors on March 3 approved a package of contracts, grant applications and administrative measures, including an energy-efficiency project with Johnson Controls and an arena and sports-complex management agreement with The Roots that will run April 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2027.

The board recorded approvals for a series of grant-related actions: staff were authorized to prepare and submit applications to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Outdoor Recreation Grants Division and to prepare and submit a Delta Regional Authority strategic-planning grant through the North Delta Planning and Development District. The board also approved appraisals for prospective land tied to those efforts and approved inventory deletions and routine travel related to those grant activities.

Officials approved a workforce-center expansion to accommodate Department of Labor grant programs and approved a transfer of general-fund bank account money to cover a workforce-training grant to be held at First Security Bank. The board also approved a contract agreement with Atlas Community Studio and acknowledged an award from the capital projects fund for community work.

Public-safety and county operations items approved included a jail mail policy (recorded in the minutes as the “jail mail law”), payment of an invoice to Sun Belt Fire for fire engine E4, and an emergency purchase of a generator for the Tunica Medical Clinic. The board approved routine payroll, credit-card reports and claims and authorized a manual check for Staples Business Advantage for road operations.

The supervisors approved routine and discrete personnel and administrative items: acceptance of a resignation from Pamela Barnard (Tunica Clinic), approval of a transfer for Shalita Martin (Tunica Medical Clinic), hiring approval for Mitchell King for North Tunica Fire Grading District, and reclassification requests for two River Park Museum employees. The board also approved a resolution of exemplary service for Stanley Roland Jones for his service with the Tunica Utility District.

Road and public-works authorizations included approval to advertise for the purchase of equipment (listed in the minutes as four tractors and two low-board trailers), approvals for road-and-bridge supplies for the month, and an emergency purchase approval tied to the road department. The board approved Chem Pro Services for a road-department contract and authorized advertising for other road equipment purchases.

Several routine civic-administration approvals also appeared in the minutes: authorization for the Tunica County Community Development Coalition, approvals to prepare grant documents, and a reported contract to manage arena operations beginning April 1, 2025.

The board recorded motions and carried votes on the items above; where a formal individual mover/second or roll-call tally was not recorded in the meeting transcript, the minutes note the board “considered and approved” the measures. Specific items that were recorded as approved in the minutes include the energy-efficiency project with Johnson Controls, the arena management agreement with The Roots, the jail mail policy, the workforce-center expansion, and the grant applications noted above.

The board also approved an indigent-burial action later in the meeting (separate item recorded in the minutes).