Lincoln County supervisors have insisted that the new baseball complex will be open to any and all children. They repeated that message Monday in response to Roy Smith’s concerns that the black community has been left out of the planning process.

“To me, our community feels that we have been left out of the process,” Smith said. “Because, being the director of the A. L. Lott Youth League Baseball program, I have 400 youth in our program. And I’ve not had one person [who has] contacted me or talked to me about unifying the league, or incorporating [the league], or what impact this may have on our league, on their league [or] on this facility as a whole.”

“I’m sure a lot of that is in the making because we haven’t even got the groundwork done yet,” Supervisor President Eddie Brown said.

Supervisors said that while some specifics are yet to be decided – such as the name of the park – the facility will absolutely be open to any and all kids wishing to play. There are no tournaments or games currently scheduled, and the park will be run by a board put together by the civic center commission.

Smith has brought his concerns about the complex to the board before.

Lincoln County supervisors were also invited by Lincoln County NAACP President Bernetta Character to attend a 6 p.m. meeting at the Lincoln County Civic Center on Thursday to address concerns and answer questions about the proposed new baseball complex. The chapter will host the meeting but has arranged for a moderator from Lawrence County to conduct its proceedings.

The Board of Supervisors also discussed issues facing the settlement of unpaid solid waste accounts. Some supervisors said they are finding discrepancies in their lists of accounts with outstanding bills, including accounts of places that no longer exist and accounts belonging to people that have died.

Supervisors said although they will be unable to collect on some accounts for obvious reasons and can close them, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that they cannot remove them from the books and will have to find another way to resolve the issues facing collection. The board is currently looking into solutions to eliminate inefficiencies associated with taking future action to collect upon these accounts.

Other business addressed Monday:

• The Board of Supervisors approved a request by the Lincoln County Civic Center for a second payment to Paul Jackson and Sons Construction for the expansion of the civic center arena for $5,448. The project, which includes adding extra bays to the arena for horses, is funded through a grant from the Pearl River Basin Development District matched by the civic center.

• The Board of Supervisors accepted a bid offered by Oddee Smith Construction for a state-aid bridge project on Caseyville Road. County engineers recommended the bid of $351,718.55.

• The board approved a Lincoln County School District board request for the leasing of 16th section land.

• The Board of Supervisors voted to refund a solid waste account because the bills were posted to the wrong account.