Mississippi Public Broadcasting asks Washington County for $5,000 to help repair storm-damaged tower

Royal Als, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, asked Washington County supervisors on July 7 for a $5,000 contribution to help repair a transmission line and antenna knocked out by an ice storm.

Als said the transmission line that carries signal to an antenna serving 10 counties was damaged when falling ice burned through more than 300 feet of the transmission cable, putting the station off the air and limiting its ability to provide weather alerts. He said full repairs to the transmission line would exceed $150,000, and he requested $5,000 from each of the 10 counties the tower serves to help defray costs.

"For the gift of $5,000, we will put together a marketing campaign that you can use however you want to use it to promote roads, tourism, economic development ... for four months," Als told the board. He said a temporary antenna would be in place by Aug. 1 and full repairs could take three to four months.

Supervisors moved to authorize a county contribution conditioned on approval from the county attorney and formal payment arrangements. The motion carried; staff said the county would follow procurement and legal review procedures before releasing funds.