Lauderdale County supervisors moved forward with several projects Monday as they work to tie up the last of the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline.

The ARPA legislation, passed by Congress in 2021, gave state, county and municipal governments until the end of the year to allocate the money and until Dec. 31, 2026, to fully expend the funds.

In a meeting Monday, supervisors awarded a bridge project on Zero Road to Joe McGee Construction at a total cost of $1,974,437.30 to be mostly paid for out of the ARPA funds. County Administrator Chris Lafferty earlier this month told the Board of Supervisors an initial estimate of the project was set at $1.3 million. However, that figure was several years old and was expected to change.

A second bid for the project was received by Hemphill Construction at a cost of $2,596,887.25.

Supervisors also approved a quote from Mitch’s Welding Fence and Gate to install batting cages at the Magnolia Middle ball fields. The cages will be 15 feet wide and 100 feet long.

Supervisor Craig Houston, who got the quotes for the project, said Mitch’s came in with the lowest quote of $18,950 compared to $24,540 from N and R Fencing.

“It’s not huge compared to some of these other projects,” he said.

Supervisor Joe Norwood Sr. said he is working on getting two quotes for playground equipment at Q.V. Sykes Park and the Sowashee Walking Trail and will present those to the board when they are available.

State purchasing laws allow the Board of Supervisors to move forward with projects under $75,000 without going through the bidding process. Instead, supervisors can get two quotes on what the work will cost and move forward with the lowest and best contractor.

In other business, the Board of Supervisors appointed Whitney Hodges to serve as interim tax assessor after the previous interim tax assessor, Karen Rainey, resigned her post effective Nov. 6. Rainey was named to the position in February following the death of her husband and Lauderdale County Tax Assessor, James Rainey, who had recently been elected to another term.

Hodges, a deputy tax assessor who was James Rainey’s second-in-command, ran unopposed in a special election on Nov. 6 to fill his seat.

Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said Hodges will serve as interim tax assessor until the results of the election are formally certified.