Transportation Commission reads multiple project authorizations; approves minutes, agenda and emergency addendum

The Transportation Commission met to consider a series of pre-construction and administrative items, including right-of-way conveyances, supplemental construction agreements, master contract solicitations, and procurement authorizations. The commission approved the minutes from the previous meeting, ratified an emergency addendum for a Smith County debris-removal project and approved the day's agenda.

The most immediate actions at the meeting were procedural. A motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting was moved and seconded and carried on a voice vote. Later the commission asked whether there were objections to an addendum authorizing an emergency project to bid on Aug. 22, 2025; when no objections were raised the addendum was ratified. The commission also moved and seconded to approve the meeting agenda before recessing for a working lunch.

Beyond those recorded approvals, staff read a long consent-style list of items for the commission’s consideration. Pre-construction staff presented multiple conveyance requests, including quick-claim deed conveyances of small parcels of surplus or uneconomic right-of-way in Smith County (0.0415 acre) and Harrison County (0.308 acre), with stated payment amounts of $165 and $40,584.50 respectively. Staff also presented requests to authorize the executive director to approve a variety of utility agreements and utility engineering agreements and to advertise for indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity master contracts for statewide appraisal and appraisal review services.

Two supplemental construction agreements were described in detail. A Class 3 supplemental agreement with Century Construction Group Inc. for a Yalobusha County bridge replacement (US Bridge No. 237.5 over the Yokna River) would add one drill shaft per intermediate vent, shorten shaft lengths, increase the contract by $358,101.37 for a revised contract amount of $14,049,900 and add 30 working days to the contract time (revising the contract period to 400 working days). A Class 3 supplemental agreement with Key LLC for improvements on I-59/I-20 in Lauderdale County would pay $1,131,833.26 to perform full-depth repairs and place a polymer concrete overlay, revising the contract from $24,742,325.52 to $25,874,158.78; no additional contract time was associated with that change.

Staff also presented administrative and procurement items: a small-purchase contract effective Aug. 21, 2025, with True North Emergency Management LLC for debris monitoring services in Smith County not to exceed $147,497.68; approval for a geotechnical manual to standardize geotechnical investigations and testing for highway construction; a request to execute federal-aid project agreements and participate in AASHTO technical service programs; and a supplemental agreement with the City of Oxford to increase Section 5311 (rural areas) program administrative and operating support by up to $332,976 for a revised total of $3,312,801.

The commission’s legal staff reported items including a donation conveyance to Greene County pursuant to House Bill 1436, master-contract legal services with fixed per-parcel and closing rates, and requests for the attorney general’s office to file suit related to damage claims for district equipment and ITS system damage. One cost item noted for litigation was a claim of $64,923.60 for ITS system damage on I-69 in DeSoto County; staff said the total of accepted damage payments this year now exceeds $1,000,000.

Finance and administrative items were read to the commission, including ratification of accounts payable totaling $138,352,416.67 for pay periods in August 2025; a payroll docket authorization not to exceed $5,000,000 plus statutory withholdings; commissioner and executive director salaries and expenses totaling $18,566.65 (plus withholdings); and multiple service and vendor contract authorizations and extensions (telephone maintenance, copier rentals, janitorial services, and vendor awards from July/August bids).

Commissioners asked for follow-up information in several areas. One commissioner asked for an update on federal funding and equipment (referred to as “ETVs”) at the next meeting; legal staff agreed to provide additional details about a damage-claim matter (item 38) and commissioners requested that item be set aside until more information is supplied.

The meeting included a brief staff introduction of Byron Carter, who joined the attorney general’s division as an assistant attorney general on July 1 and was welcomed by the commission.

No formal roll-call vote counts for the wide array of presented project authorizations were recorded in the posted transcript; the record documents that the minutes, the addendum for the emergency bid, and the agenda were approved. The transcript did not show final votes or recorded outcomes for each listed authorization item, so this article lists those items as presented to the commission rather than as separately approved actions.

Looking ahead, staff indicated the emergency debris-removal project in Smith County would proceed to bid on Aug. 22, 2025, per the ratified addendum. Commissioners were also invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Highway 82 bypass in what was described in the meeting as "Green, Mississippi" the following morning at 10:00 a.m.