Supervisor Banks get's a little testy!

Supervisor Karl Banks got a little testy at the recent Madison County Board of Supervisors meeting over allegations made that his family is personally profitting from his votes. Jackson Jambalya lists several votes here that call into questions the ethics of Banks votes.  Banks did not address many of the specific allegations saying, "It's not like I'm getting major income from it."

The Madison County Herald coverage of the meeting:

Timetable for parkway work OK'd by board


Calhoun Station Parkway will start growing to the north and south this year.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a timetable for seeking, accepting and awarding bids for commencing construction by July on two sections of the road, about 5 miles total in length. The estimated cost for building three lanes south to Gluckstadt Road is $3 million and the estimate for extending those three lanes north from Sowell Road to Mississippi 22 is $8 million.

District 4 Supervisor Karl Banks wanted it on the county's record that any votes he has made on the Calhoun Station project over the years have nothing to do with family-owned property nearby.

"I've been accused of voting my own personal interests," Banks said. "I've been accused of voting on things going through my property."

Banks said he owns 9.56 percent of the total 66 acres, referred to as the Miller-Banks estate, on a map. "It's not like I'm getting major income from it," he said.

The property is now shared by Banks, his brother and several cousins and is considered pasture land. "This property was my grandfather's farm. He farmed it back in the '40s," Banks said."

The land, which is split into two parcels by I-55 sits about four-tenths of a mile from what would be county right-of-way on the northern construction path, county engineer Rudy Warnock said.

Warnock said the tentative schedule for construction calls for awarding the bid for the southern section that begins at Church Road on June 21 and awarding the bid for the northern section on July 5. Construction would begin no later than July 12 for the southern end and by July 16 for the longer, northern construction.

"We'll move as expeditiously as we can" for moving ahead with construction, Warnock told the supervisors.

Construction on the southern end is expected to be complete by May 2011 and on the other section by December 2011.