This road is crucial for planting and harvesting the 1,900 acres of soybeans and cotton on the farm. It runs between Shelby and Parchman in central Delta. The bridge was closed by the feds in January. Talley and farm workers now have only one way to get to the fields. It is a turnrow that another farmer owns. The turnrow can be used as long as it is dry. If it rains, the farm is not accessible. The farm is effectively landlocked. Talley and representatives from the company that owns it approached Bolivar County supervisors Monday with a unique proposal. “We’ll reimburse county for the bridge repair.” “Right now we’re just asking for a reprieve. Bill Sheppard, an engineer with Civil Link LLC in Southaven, said that what we really need is time. He represents Talley Farmland Services and Hancock Farmland Services. It’s worth every penny if it lasts three years. It will give us the time we need to arrange and obtain an easement and signed documents to allow us another route into our farm.” Nearly 500 county bridges have been closed across Mississippi. This has impacted thousands of Mississippians. The Delta counties are especially affected by the state’s shrinking tax base over the past decades and the lack of funds to reopen recently closed bridges. This crisis is a result of years of delaying maintenance at the county level, inability by state lawmakers to pass comprehensive infrastructure funding packages and unresolved political turf battles. All this culminated in Gov. Phil Bryant directed the state transportation department close to 100 bridges throughout the state. Bryant’s order came in response to federal government inspection mandates, which were created in 2017 after the Federal Highway Administration found that hundreds of state’s timber-pile structures were unsafe for travel. They had also been improperly inspected for many years. Local government officials across the state are trying to find the funds needed for bridge repairs in the face of this new crisis. Many counties are pledging to increase local property taxes or issue new bonds in order to reopen bridges as they approach the new fiscal year. Terry Broome, a supervisor from Marion County in central Mississippi, said that there are currently 10 bridges in close repair. “There will be more inspections this fiscal year so we expect that number of bridges to double.” “We’re discussing a bond issue because it just doesn’t have enough money.” Mississippi Today reported May that consultants would inspect approximately 1,650 more timber bridges, and that the number of bridge closures across the state could increase by up to 2,000 by 2019. There is a bridge close to you that is likely to be closed. Find it and show us. The debates among government officials aren’t restricted to the local level. Talks have been started about a special legislative session where lawmakers could provide additional revenue for counties to repair bridges. However, weeks-long negotiations among legislative leaders over such a proposal are still in vain and no special session has yet been called. Officials in Bolivar County where Talley’s farm lies, hope that the Legislature will divert a portion the state’s internet tax collections – recently permitted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling – to counties for infrastructure improvement. Bolivar County supervisors unanimously approved a resolution asking for the diversion of sales tax revenue. The Mississippi Association of Supervisors provided this resolution, which was signed by several county boards of supervisors. Preston Billings, a Bolivar County Supervisor, stated that they had found the money to pay for it. “We’re still seeking funding. We couldn’t wait, because so many were affected by the situation. We were able to find money to reopen some of the larger bridges. Unfortunately, many bridges are still closed.” Sheppard stated that the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors offered to reimburse the county for bridge repairs. “We’ll wait to see what they decide.”_x000D