Dam Rebuild Approved - Oktibbeha Board
Supervisors Vote to Rebuild County Lake Dam to Higher Safety Standard
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with rehabilitating the Oktibbeha County Lake Dam to a high-hazard engineering standard.
At the board's Oct. 6 meeting, Supervisor Little presided as acting chair after the board president recused himself, citing that he lives downstream of the dam. Supervisor Orlando Trainer made the motion, saying the board should "pursue funding this particular project using federal funds, state funds, and local funds to build this dam back to the high standard recommendation." The motion also called for construction to be done in accordance with state requirements and regulations.
The vote came after the board heard from residents on the matter, according to the meeting record.
The decision commits the county to pursuing public money from federal, state and local sources to meet the costlier high-hazard classification rather than a cheaper alternative. The board president's recusal, tied to his living downstream of the dam, removed him from the deliberations over a project described as a major capital and public-safety commitment for the county. Exact funding figures and the final vote tally were not confirmed in the meeting record.