Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
RECESS MEETING OF JULY 16, 2008
Be it remembered that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ocean Springs met in a Recess meeting at City Hall in the City of Ocean Springs at 6:00 p.m. on July 16, 2008. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan were present. Also present was City Clerk Shelly Ferguson and City Attorney John Edwards.
The Mayor gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to amend the agenda and pull items 7(a) and 7(b) from the Consent Agenda for discussion and accept the Addendum to the Agenda.
PRESENTATION
Mr. Jeff Lotus, Gulf Regional Planning Commission, gave a presentation on the bike suitability map to designate safe roads for cyclists in the City of Ocean Springs.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Kelly Castleberry of the Mississippi Department of Transportation gave an update on the traffic study on Highway 90 and further advised that wireless sensors would be installed to help alleviate traffic congestion.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to enter into an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to utilize property to provide parking on MDOT right of way.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Tripp Muldrow of Arnett Muldrow & Associates and Ms. Margaret Miller from the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce provided a synopsis of the Tax Abatement program, marketing program and the façade grant program (Exhibit 5-a).
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to create a steering committee made up of local business leaders and have each alderman select an individual to serve on the committee.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Mayor pulled item (a) to clarify the specifics of the grant. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize the Mayor to execute the Mississippi Arts Commission Grant Contract for the creation of a public mosaic located at Seaman’s Memorial and amend the budget accordingly (Exhibit 7-a).
The Mayor pulled item (b) for clarification. Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to award the bid to J.E. Borries, Jr. in the amount of $722,438.40 for the construction of the Chester M. McPherson, Jr. pier (Exhibit 7-b).
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to adopt the name of the pier as the Chester M. McPherson, Jr. Pier.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (i), (k) and (A-1f) which were pulled by Alderman McDonnell; item (w) and (x) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd; items (A-1a), (A-1b), (A-1c) and (A-1d) which were pulled by Alderman Weaver and item (A-1g) which was pulled by Dalgo.
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (i) and asked for clarification concerning the Resolution and Order adopting the Uniform Assessment Schedule for motor vehicles. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to adopt the Resolution and Order adopting the Uniform Assessment Schedule for motor vehicles and schedule a public hearing for August 5, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. (Exhibit 7-i).
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (k) to allow Alderman Denyer to recuse himself from the discussion. Alderman Denyer recused himself from the vote. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize employment of Elizabeth Denyer as probationary dispatcher, hourly rate of $10.72, six-month probationary period, pending successful completion of all pre-employment requirements (Exhibit 7-k).
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (w) and asked if it was for lot cleaning only. The Building Official advised that it was a lot cleaning. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to adopt the resolution determining necessity for lot cleaning at 1119 Vermont Avenue (Exhibit 7-w).
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (x) and asked if the demolitions of the structures were at the request of the homeowners. The Building Official advised the homeowners did request the demolitions of the structures. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize demolition of structures located at 611 Ward Avenue and 614 Magnolia Avenue (Exhibit 7-x).
Alderman Weaver pulled item (A-1a) and asked for clarification of the roof repairs at the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize to advertise bid specifications for MDAH funded roof repair/replacement at Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center (Exhibit A-1a).
Alderman Weaver pulled item (A-1b) and explained the three (3) bids received exceeded the budget for this project. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to authorize rejection of three (3) bids for Fort Maurepas Park (Exhibit A-1b).
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize to begin the process to re-advertise for bids for the Fort Maurepas pavilion and park in one bid package.
Alderman Weaver pulled item (A-1c) and asked for clarification of the Contract. Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to approve Bolton/Lack/Furr Contract for the Public Safety Center/CDBG Round III pending CDBG approval and receipt of a clean copy for signature from the architect with written changes to include up to a 45-day payment remittance as per State law (Exhibit A-1c).
Alderman Weaver pulled item (A-1d) to ask for clarification concerning the Resolution. Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to adopt the Resolution to enter into a Loan with the Mississippi Development Bank in the principal amount not to exceed $14,250,000.00 (Exhibit A-1).
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (A-1f) to ask for clarification of the resignation of Derrick Charbonnet and the funding for the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to accept the resignation of Derrick Charbonnet from the Historic Preservation Commission and to send a letter of appreciation.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize the Mayor to execute the Consulting Services Agreement with Turf Solutions, LLC and amend the budget accordingly (Exhibit A-1g).
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
The Mayor gave an update on the Highway 57 ballfields (Exhibit 8-a).
City Clerk
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan and seconded by Alderman Denyer to adopt Ordinance No. 5-2008 AN ORDINANCE BEING AN AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE NO.2-1955, AND THE AMENDMENT THERETO ADOPTED FEBRUARY 26, 1980, THE AMENDMENT THERETO ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 4, 1984, THE AMENDMENT THERETO ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 19, 1995, AND THE AMENDMENT ADOPTED OCTOBER 3, 2006, AND BEING AN AMENDMENT PRESCRIBING THE NEW CHARGE FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT SURCHARGE SERVICES BY THE CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI (Exhibit 8-b). The motion passed with a roll call vote as follows:
Alderman Weaver Voted Aye
Alderman Gill Voted Aye
Alderman McDonnell Voted Aye
Alderman Lloyd Voted Aye
Alderman Denyer Voted Aye
Alderman Dalgo Voted Aye
Alderman Hagan Voted Aye
Parks and Leisure Services
The Interim Parks and Leisure Services Director gave an update on the Clay Boyd Spray Park. She stated the park may be ready to open the week of July 21st.
ALDERMEN’S FORUM
Alderman Denyer asked the Building Official to remove boards from the windows at 2510 Ridgewood Drive due to suspicious activities inside the residence. The Building Official will investigate the problem.
Alderman Denyer asked for a $1,000.00 donation to the YMCA for a program to insure that all children will be able to participate in all programs at the YMCA. Alderman Denyer will provide documentation of the program at the next board meeting.
Alderman Weaver asked the Community Development Director to announce the schedule of the Public Design Forum on Monday, July 21 at 6:30 p.m. and July 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ocean Springs Civic Center.
Alderman Lloyd asked for an update on the stop sign at Holcomb and Lafayette. The Community Development Director advised that it did not meet the requirements of the traffic study.
Alderman McDonnell asked for a press release to inform the citizens of Ocean Springs of the availability of ice and how it will be distributed in the event of a natural disaster once a plan has been determined.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to allocate $1,500.00 to the Ocean Springs 12-year old Little League team to offset travel expenses to promote the resources of the City in the event the team wins the State tournament and travels to Waco, Texas for the Southwest Region Tournament.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to designate Marble Springs as an official park.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to go into closed session to determine the necessity of going into executive session.
The City Clerk returned to the meeting and announced that a motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss potential litigation and personnel in the Police Department.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Lloyd to come out of executive session and return to regular session. Motion carried with Alderman Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to amend the SysCon Contract to allow a monthly lease in an amount not to exceed $5,411.11 and authorize the Mayor to execute the Amended Contract.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to support the Police Chief’s recommendation of Roy Brian Wallace to Patrolman 1st class, effective immediately.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to recess until 8:30 a.m. on July 22, 2008.
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City Clerk Mayor
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