Calhoun County supervisors approved term bids and were informed of a project by CSpire to improve cell phone service and internet accessibility in the county.
Brian Walden with CSpire shared a map with the board showing where they plan to install 60 miles of fiber through the county in 2016.
The proposal suggested they will be installing high speed fiber lines from Grenada to Houston along Hwy. 8 and from Slate Springs to Oxford on Hwy. 9.
Walden said the lines will be installed with a boring process connecting to nine existing towers in Calhoun. He said the new fiber will help improve existing cell service in the county for CSpire customers.
“This will allow us to redirect service if we have a utility line cut somewhere to keep service up,” Walden said. He noted it would also allow the company to offer home internet service to residents in the future.
The board approved unanimously a bid from Donna Hegwood to continue providing cleaning services to county property, despite her’s not being the lowest bid.
The lowest bid submitted was from C&J Janitorial out of Derma, but did not include a bond as required in the bid specifications, so it was rejected.
The next two lowest bids were from a Memphis based company and BW Cleaning Services (Betty Waring of Calhoun City), which did meet specifications. The board cited Hegwood’s record as providing “good service” as the cleaner of the courthouse since 1998 as the reason to accept her bid, which was $80 per month higher than BW Cleaning, as opposed to the two lower bids.
The board approved the only bids received for the county depository from BancorpSouth, who has been the county’s banking provider for the past several years, and pest control from Tri-State.
They also approved a contract with McCarty architects for the hospital expansion project.