Circuit Court term stalled
After hearing many cases in the last few weeks, circuit court in Attala County was put on hold after a public defender representing several defendants came down with COVID-19.
Austin Vollor, a Starkville attorney, was set to represent in three individuals in upcoming Attala County Circuit Court trials set for the September term, but he came down with the virus during the September sessions.
Judge George Mitchell said that he does not have a courthouse in Attala County to call his own at the moment — due to ongoing construction at the Attala County Circuit Court, so the remaining trials will be heard in another county once Vollor is available and they can be rescheduled. Mitchell said no location has been confirmed yet.
“We will let Vollor get well and move forward from there,” said Mitchell.
— Landon Gibson
Kosciusko Board of Aldermen act
During the Board of Aldermen Sept. 21 meeting, the board voted for a new website design, accepted resignations, and paid an invoice due for the future bike lane project.
New city website
Mayor Tim Kyle said the city’s website has needed an upgrade. City Clerk Michelle Quesnot said she ended up getting quotes from two different companies. One of these is U.S. Next Website Design, which recently built a site for the county at www.attalacounty.net. They have also built websites for other counties in the state. The project cost is $450 for initial startup followed by monthly payments of $149. Maintenance and the ability for U.S. Next Website Design to make changes is also covered in the cost. The other option offered to the board was to stick with Marketing Alliance, the company who designed the city’s current website. Their proposed contract would charge an outright fee of $10,500 for a new website with no monthly payments. The board unanimously voted to allow U.S. Next to redesign the city’s website, and work on it may begin as early as October.
Resignations
The board accepted the resignation of Officer Jose Martinez from the Kosciusko Police Department following an off-duty DUI arrest. The board also accepted the resignation of Fireman Jake Cummins. Kosciusko Fire Chief Duane Burdine said the resignation has him down a man, but he will bring promotions before the board to begin next month. Interim Police Chief David White said he had two officers graduating from the Police Academy this past week.
Bike lane project
The board approved paying the final engineering invoice to Gardner Engineering in the amount of $11,594.13. This payment is for the South Huntington St. bike lane project which is currently on hold after receiving one bid earlier in the month that went over the predicted budget.
— Landon Gibson
