NewsReleaseV2012-4

Bridge, Phillips, Elam Drainage District News From the desk of Milton Sandy Jr

August 17, 2012

Vol 2012-4

This newsletter is directed to friends and supporters of our efforts to get something done about the repetitive flooding in Corinth and Alcorn County which on May 2, 2010, caused loss of life, public and private property and threatened public health and safety by the massive release of raw sewage into flood waters. If you have news, questions or comments, please fire away.

FUTURE FARE “What do you think about the mayor's Future Fare

Flood Threat for August

proposal?� is a question I've been asked quite often lately. Before I can respond, many people have flatly told me they are against it. It seems that some people's minds are made up and they don't want to be confused by any facts.

The City of Corinth is now around 150 years old. With age comes some benefits and plenty of problems- sounds like my personal life as well. Due to historic preservation efforts, we have much of our historic downtown and residential area intact. We have good schools. We have a beautiful tree canopy which shades our city and filters much of the rain which falls in the center of Corinth. We have a man made drainage system built almost 100 years ago which made the present day City of Corinth no longer a swamp. We now have good major four lane highways intersecting in Corinth which we didn't have through most of my lifetime. We have major railroads serving our city both North-South and East-West. We have a very nice airport named after a historic aviator. We have a treasury of local history which draws visitors to our city year round.

Unfortunately, many of the trees are now aging and need our attention. Streets, sewers, drainage and water supply and distribution are aging and need attention. While some financial information has been forthcoming with Future Fare, a more timely and consolidated financial reporting system would help the public restore confidence in our city government. These are problems that take time to resolve but which need immediate attention. Our new Mayor Irwin and Aldermen inherited the problems but not enough resources to fix everything at once. It will take time but you have to start somewhere. I have been most impressed with two things accomplished so far. Mayor Irwin was elected on a promise to do things right and I credit him with these examples of what I've seen so far.

1.

Paving downtown and on Proper Street was done in the most professional, well planned and thoughtful way that I've seen any street project in my lifetime. Proper Street looks as good today as it did when it was first paved as part of the Lee Highway project back in the 1920's. The street was milled, sewer lines were inspected and replaced, and curbs and gutters were repaired before the asphalt was laid. Everyone knows this is not the way its been done in the past.

2.

Genuine progress has been made in clearing our ditches. While this is a continuing major project requiring maintenance continuously into the future, we can all sleep a little better with the progress that has been done thus far in mitigating the risk of future flooding. What is amazing to me is that with only one change in the city staffing, the new mayor and board have made great progress in cleaning out our drainage ditches with the same personnel as prior administrations.

Can we trust them further?

Contact: Milton Sandy Jr 662-286-6087 - Fax 287-4187 - E-mail mlsandy@tsixroads.com

Nobody trusts politicians anymore. I know I don't. Why should you? But sometimes you see an opportunity and you have to trust your gut instincts. In my experience in business, opportunities often arose which involved making an investment. Those opportunities often came at inopportune times and required an investment when circumstances looked the least favorable.

The opportunities when missed quite often never came around again. That is kind of what I see right now for the city of Corinth.

Let's face it, an increase in any kind of tax is never popular, at any time and under any circumstances. But ignoring and not facing facts can lead to dire consequences. From roughly 27 BC-476 AD the Roman Empire was one of the most developed civilizations in the world.

As it declined, civilization of the entire world declined. The Romans developed and built some of the greatest engineering works of infrastructure of the ancient world. The roads, sewers, drainage structures and water supply aqueducts which served Rome were not matched for a thousand years afterward while civilization fell into the “Dark Ages”.

The decay of Roman civilization was marked by a lack of maintenance and neglect of these sewers, drains, roads, and water supply aqueducts. The Coliseum in Rome, considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering was used as a landfill during the Dark Ages. Kind of reminded me of Corinth's use of former clay pits for our garbage dumps which, in my opinion, contributed to some of our most recent flooding problems. In perspective, I think of Corinth's last 40 years as being “Dark Ages”. As Mayor Irwin has publicly pointed out, nobody who has lived here for the last 40 years can deny seeing Corinth decline in many ways.

Nobody wants a tax increase. I think in the past we elected good people to whom we didn't really pay too much attention to after they were elected. Much of our infrastructure dating back over Corinth's 150 year history is largely out of sight, out of mind. Our drainage is what I've become most familiar with and can speak with the most authority. What I've said before is that the damage from flooding on May 2, 2010, was a man-made disaster. What I know now is that the city of Corinth had the resources before May 2, 2010, to fix the problem and prevent much of the flooding. What was lacking was the will and the informed leadership to get it done. To fix our streets and highways is a much larger problem that requires even more resources.

At the public meeting the other night, it was very succinctly pointed out that increases in property taxes were a great burden on property owners, on some more than others. This is undoubtedly true. There is no tax which will ever be completely fair, completely just with all people. However, if this community doesn't start growing again, everyone's property values are going to decline and we may have an even larger problem in the future. I believe we have to try to grow ourselves out of this problem and the best way is to show others we are willing to invest in our own community.

While I've spent the last two years studying the problems with drainage and too much water, I've also realized we have a unique opportunity in addition to a problem. Most parts of the world today suffer from a lack of clean water, a precious commodity. As drought affects vast areas

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of the United States and the World at large, Corinth has never had that problem since Civil War times as National Park Ranger Tom Parson did such a great a job of documenting recently. This should be a major marketing point for economic development.

Another economic development that is starting to take place is a slow reversal of manufacturing leaving the United States. Some manufacturing is now returning. We know of many foreign automobile manufacturers locating in the South, including Toyota in nearby New Albany. Neighboring Alabama just announced a major Airbus aircraft manufacturing plant to be located near Mobile. Florence is soon to be the site of a major Navistar truck manufacturing facility. (Reminding me that the Tri-Cities area missed an opportunity almost 100 years ago when Henry Ford in the early 1920's wanted to make the Tri-Cities area the center of automobile manufacturing for the United States that Detroit later became).

A recent national publication recommended Oxford as an affordable retirement community in Mississippi. It also contained this rather stinging blanket observation about the rest of the state including Corinth:

”What's more, a lot of the smaller towns in the state are isolated rural outposts with little to recommend them.”

I've lived in Corinth all of my life and have always thought Corinth has a lot of recommend it.

If we are now going to sell others on investing and living in this community, we have to have enough confidence to invest here ourselves. Ronald Reagan said we need to “trust, but verify.” It is a leap of faith to trust public officials to use our money wisely but I'm going to trust on Future Fare and be looking to verify in the future. Personally, I am Voting FOR and

supporting FUTURE FARE on August 21, 2012.

VEGETATION CONTROL UPDATE In our last newsletter, we reported on the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District's return to Corinth to complete a demonstration spraying project on the segment of Elam Canal from Hwy 72 South to its junction with Bridge Canal below the sewer plant. This work was done in lieu of clearing work already completed by the City of Corinth on this section of the canal before the TRVWMD paperwork could be completed.

I wanted to again document the recommendations for chemical treatment developed with information from Dr. John Madsen at Mississippi State University and from Mr. Greg Wall, aquatic specialty sales representative for Helena Chemical Company in Collierville, TN, (662-312-0510).

Rodeo was the herbicide used and is made by Dow Chemical. Rodeo is EPA approved for contact with water. The active herbicide ingredient in Rodeo is isopropylamine salt of glyphosate. Rodeo is mixed to a 2% solution which equates

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to 2 gallons of herbicide per 100 gallons of water.

Since Rodeo contains no surfactants, Dyne-Amic, a non-ionic modified vegetable oil and organosilicone surfactant manufactured by Helena Chemical, which meets all of the Rodeo label requirements and is labeled for aquatic use.

The recommended general application rates are 3-5 pints per 100 gallons of spray solution or approximately 1/2 gallon per 100 gallons of water.

Since our last newsletter, we discovered the other surfactant previously mentioned is not labeled for aquatic use. This surfactant served as a conditioner to reduce the ph of hard water. Hard water reduces the effectiveness of glyphosate so this is like taking out insurance on the water condition which makes up almost 98% of your spray solution. It also contained an anti-foaming agent. In its place, we are now recommending Quest, manufactured by Helena Chemical and labeled for aquatic use. A recommended rate of 1 qt per 100 gallons of water helps reduce the water pH down below 7 and enhances the glyphosate efficacy.

If foaming is a problem, 1 oz per 100 gallons of water of FoamBuster, an anti-foaming agent manufactured by Helena Chemical, may be added to the spray mix.

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The before and after pictures tell all the story. The TRVWMD did a wonderful job of spraying the banks of Elam Canal from Hwy 72 to its junction with Bridge Creek below the sewer plant. Now its up to the City of Corinth to implement an effective follow-up program to keep it sprayed regularly. Our research shows a spray program involving two annual applications- May and August would probably be sufficient and would eliminate the need for heavy machinery mulching except on unusual circumstances.

WHY I'VE BEEN QUIET THIS SUMMER I was fortunate to have been a member of the Corinth High School Class of 1962 and this summer we had a great 50th reunion on June 16th. It is really a rewarding experience to renew old friendships with classmates, some of whom I have known for 62 years now. I have found that age does not improve memory for most people but collectively, it is amazing how a bunch of classmates can remember details and embarrassing stories you had long forgotten. Unfortunately, I was slowed down by an attack of shingles. For anyone over 60, I highly recommend you don't neglect getting vaccinated for shingles which is supposed to help reduce the severity and length of attacks. If you've ever had chickenpox, you are a potential candidate for shingles. If you have never had chickenpox, you could potentially acquire them with direct exposure to someone with a shingles rash. Take my word for this, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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