Alcorn Supervisors Accept Bid to Dispose Forrest School Road Property

ALCORN, Miss. (Daily Corinthian) — The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors accepted a bid Monday morning to dispose of the Forrest School Road property that was once planned to be a rubbish site.

In a 3-2 vote, the board accepted John Prather’s bid of $1,100 per acre for the approximately 125-acre site. One other bidder, Lester Strickland, offered to buy the land for $101,000.

The vote split along the same lines as the recent vote to take bids and sell the property. Board President Lowell Hinton made the motion to accept the bid; Tim Mitchell seconded; and Dal Nelms joined them in voting “yes.” Gary Ross and Jimmy Tate Waldon cast the “no” votes.

The proceeds from the land sale will go into the solid waste fund.

Members of the Corinth-Alcorn Parks and Recreation Commission gathered separately at the supervisors’ office Monday morning for a bid opening on the clearing and grubbing of 17 acres of land to be used for expansion of Crossroads Regional Park.

Of the 10 bids, Volunteer Bridge Construction of Crump, Tenn., had the apparent low bid at $38,400. The next-lowest bid was $58,000, and bids were as high as $206,400. This led to some discussion with the contractor of whether the bid was too low. The engineering estimate was $45,000.

The decision to award the contract rests with the park commission and does not require action by the city or county.

In other business before the supervisors, Veterans Service Officer Pat Ray presented a framed resolution from the Mississippi Legislature to Herschell Wilbanks in honor of his service to the country, his community and Alcorn County.

Wilbanks, 90, is a resident of the Hatchie area.

“I think he exemplifies what a true citizen is,” said Supervisor Jimmy Tate Waldon. “I appreciate what he has done for our community.”

He was a rifleman and a foot soldier during World War II, serving from Jan. 6, 1944, to Nov. 17, 1945. He was wounded in service, earning two Purple Hearts, the French Legion of Honor and numerous other commendations.

He was assigned to the 35th Infantry Division attached to Patton’s 3rd Army Corps.

Wilbanks later worked in agricultural stabilization and conservation and served 12 years on the county school board.

The resolution was authored by Sen. Rita Potts Parks.

The county engineer reported that property acquisition continues to move forward on the County Road 346 bridge project and the Five Points intersection project.

Read more: Daily Corinthian – Supervisors accept property bid

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