Supervisors reviewed proposed changes to the county’s Subdivision Regulation during a public hearing Monday and eventually voted to table voting on those changes until some additional changes could be reworded.

The supervisors met with the Lafayette County Planning Commission recently to flush out the proposed changes.

One of the changes includes requiring developers to show proof of notifying property owners who may be impacted by a development. County Attorney David O’Donnell said there’s been recent instances where land owners weren’t receiving certified letters via the U.S Post Office, even though the Post Office said they were delivered. The proposed change suggests developers use companies like FedEx or UPS to notify landowners.

Supervisor Chad McLarty said he thought it was putting too much of a burden on developers to show proof that every land owner is notified, such as in cases where life estates could have several owners.

O’Donnell suggested in those cases, adding working that the person who receives the tax bill should be the one notified. McLarty also had concerns that some people would refuse the accept the notification and that shouldn’t be the developer’s fault.

“If they can show a reasonable effort was put into notifying the landowner, that’s what we want to see,” Britt said.

One suggested amendment included changing when a developer can actually begin construction from after final plat approval to after preliminary plat approval if the developer can present a Will Serve letter from whichever water and sewer agency would be providing service.

The developer would have to gain approval from the Mississippi Department of Health or the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for its waste water and sewer plans before gaining final approval from the Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors spent a good portion of the meeting discussing fire hydrants in new subdivisions.

The proposed regulation requires 6-inch fire hydrants having two, 2.5-inch nozzles and not having a pumped nozzle, shall be installed in all developments and subdivisions having a public water supply.

If the water supplier has determined, based on design that there are adequate water mains serving the development or subdivision, a three-way fire hydrant with a pumper nozzle can be installed.

The hydrants shall be located not more than 500 feet as measured along a dedicated street from all lots in the subdivision. The minimum line size for the fire protection system will be 8 inches unless the Mississippi Department of Health and/or the water supplier determine the water system cannot support or supply the 8-inch line based on design.

The developer’s engineer shall provide the reasoning for the design criteria behind the request to install the smaller line.

If approved by the Lafayette County Planning Commission and the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors the smaller line will be required and the plans shall be changed accordingly.

Supervisor Kevin Frye said he would like to see wording added that would require hydrants to pump at least 500 gallons per minute.

Frye met with some opposition from fellow supervisors and developers attending the meeting who said that some current water systems cannot handle an 8-inch line.

The board tabled voting on the changes to allow Britt to make some recommended changes.

Another motion was passed to have Frye and McLarty meet with planning officials to further look into the fire hydrant issue.