Lafayette Supervisors Reject MDOT Request to Clear State Road Debris

State highway users in Lafayette County may face extended delays after the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted at Feb. 24–25 meetings not to sign a Mississippi Department of Transportation memorandum of understanding that would have authorized the county to contract for removal of storm debris from state roadways. District 5 Supervisor Greg Bynum warned that if the county declines, responsibility will fall to MDOT: “If we don’t do this, it’s just going to have to be up to MDOT to clean the state roads.”

Supervisors rejected the MOU largely on financial grounds, saying the county would have to front the cost of clearing state roads and then wait for reimbursement. County officials estimate debris removal on state-maintained routes in Lafayette County at approximately $2 million, and supervisors said borrowing to cover that amount would incur interest while the county awaited payment.

Earlier this week the board approved a $25 million line of credit to fund storm recovery efforts; the county can draw from the line as needed and will only repay the amount borrowed, plus interest. Even with that credit in place, supervisors expressed concern about advancing roughly $2 million in contractor or borrowing costs for state-road work before any MDOT or federal reimbursement arrived.

Under the proposed funding structure cited by county leaders, FEMA would cover 75% of storm recovery expenses, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency would contribute 12.5%, and the county would be responsible for the remaining 12.5%—an amount county officials noted could be partially offset by in-kind volunteer labor and donated resources. Reporting on the proposal indicated that MDOT would reimburse the county for the 12.5% share of costs not covered by federal aid; supervisors questioned the timing and mechanism of that reimbursement.

Operationally, Lafayette County has already contracted Looks Great Services to handle debris removal across the county. The MOU under consideration would have allowed the county to use contracts such as the Looks Great Services agreement to clear state roadways and then seek reimbursement under the MDOT-federal-state cost-share. The Oxford Board of Aldermen approved a similar MDOT MOU earlier this month, a contrast county supervisors noted as they weighed municipal and county capacities.

District 2 Supervisor John Morgan agreed with declining the MOU and cited remaining county workload: “They can always come back to us at a later time to request this,” he said, adding, “But we still have 50% of county roads that haven’t been picked up yet.” With unanswered questions about the exact MOU language, the flow and timing of reimbursements, and whether Looks Great Services’ contract could be extended to state roads, supervisors left the door open for MDOT to return with different terms while county crews and contractors continue countywide cleanup.