Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
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 August 15, 2006. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan were present. Also present were City Attorney John Edwards and City Clerk Adrienne Howell.
Reverend Barnett gave the invocation and Mayor Moran led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Mr. Bob Lunardini with Southern Consultants, Inc. presented a public hearing regarding the FY-07 drinking water system revolving loan pertaining to a new water well, waterline upgrades and the installation of electronic water meters.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to adopt the Resolution and Order for the FY-07 Uniform Assessment Schedule for motor vehicles (Exhibit 3-b).
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Joey Furr, Landscape Architect with SJB Consulting, presented the facility plan for Parks and Recreation (Exhibit 4-a).
Mr. Henry Laird, Attorney representing the Concerned Citizens of Ocean Springs, requested a review of the amendments made to the Waterview Preservation Ordinance including height allowances and the planned Ocean Pointe development (Exhibit 4-b). Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to discuss the matter. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to have the City Attorney investigate and report back at the next meeting the four legal points raised by Mr. Laird: 1) inadequacy of public notice, 2) inadequacy of written notice by registered mail to residents within 500 feet, 3) the assessment of an impact fee and 4) zoning R-1A does not allow condominiums.
Mr. Gay Young expressed his concern that the installation of electronic water meters could, in his opinion, cause water loss from thermal expansion (Exhibit 4-c).
Mr. Jeff Bruno was not able to attend the meeting tonight to address the tree permit denial at 1015 Conley Circle and has requested that it be considered at the next meeting (Exhibit 4-d). Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to table the matter until the next meeting.
Mayor Moran asked for a motion to consider several items for an addendum to the agenda. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to table the addendum to the agenda. Second was withdrawn by Alderman Dalgo and second was made by Alderman Hagan. Motion failed with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer and Dalgo voting nay and Alderman Hagan voting aye. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to approve items A-1c, A-1d and A1-e from the addendum to the agenda.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Eric Zala of 301 Wisteria voiced his opposition of large condominium projects on Front Beach.
Mr. Walter Bolton, local Architect, 113 Wisteria, requested that the Design Review Ordinance be reassessed. He presented pictures of existing buildings in Ocean Springs that would not have passed the Design Review guidelines. He opposes being told how to design a building.
Mr. Clay Williams, 122 Halstead Road, said that some form of a Design Review Guideline should be formulated because Ocean Springs has one of the hottest real estate markets in the state. The Mayor said she would like to refer this issue to the Smart Growth Committee to set up a work session with the local architects and others involved.
Mr. Gary Anders, Sun Coast Auto Sales, has to repair the sign at this business due to damage from the storm and complained that the sign ordinance requirements would cause his sign to be too small considering that his business is set back from the road. Mr. Scruggs suggested that he request a variance through the Board of Adjustments.
Mr. Doug Denehie, 5034 Forrest Hill Drive, has studied the Smart Code issue and suggests that it merits further research and calibration.
Mr. Henry Furr, local Architect, asked to be notified when a meeting will be held to discuss the Design Review Ordinance and he will forward that on to his AIA e-mail list. He said that there needs to be a more comprehensive, cohesive answer to the zoning ordinance.
Ms. Laura Dubaz, 1402 Sussex Drive, asked if Mr. Laird’s points are found to be correct based on the research of the City Attorney, would the citizens be able to review the findings? The Mayor said it would be up to the recommendation of the City Attorney.
Ms. Catherine Gautier requested that anything not held up because of litigation be posted on the website.
Mr. Joey Beaugez, local bar owner, said that a ban on smoking could put him out of business.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of item (e) which was pulled by Alderman Gill, item (f) which was pulled by Alderman McDonnell and items (o) and (q) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd.
Alderman Gill pulled item (e) and asked that the matter be tabled until they can have a written explanation for the budget amendments at the next meeting. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman Hagan to table item (e) to adopt budget amendments until the next meeting. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Weaver voting nay.
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (f) and asked how long the $5.00 increase on garbage would last. Ms. Howell said that the increase will be in place for 60 days and that Request for Proposals will be taken on August 29, 2006. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to approve item (f) to accept the recommendation to increase the garbage fee to $16.00 per customer.
Alderman Lloyd pulled items (o) and (q) and asked what the basis is for a lot cleaning. Mr. Scruggs said that it can be a multitude of factors which can include overgrowth of weeds and debris or junk cars on sight. Alderman Lloyd said he might have looked at the wrong piece of property on Sunset and will drive back by. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to proceed with the adoption of resolutions determining the necessity for lot clearing at 1220 Sunset Avenue (Exhibit 6-o) and 228 Linda Drive (Exhibit 6-q).
Alderman Weaver said that there was a mistake made on the minutes of August 1, 2006 (Exhibit 6-b). Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to correct the name of the person making the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 25-2006 from Alderman Weaver to Alderman Denyer.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
The Mayor said that Carolyn Martin and Angela Mohar have done a very professional job writing a $15,000.00 grant for trees. Alderman McDonnell asked the status of hiring additional Grant Writers. Mayor Moran said that she had contacted the Governor’s Chief of Staff last week but it will probably be several weeks before anything will go forward. In the meantime, a lady has come into town that is a professional grant writer and is offering services for free right now at ten hours a week.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to approve the appointments to the Board and Commissions as follows:
Recommendations to the Library Board:
1. Accept resignation of Jeff McDaniels
2. Appoint Joey Rice, term expiring 06/30/2011
3. Reappoint Louise Butler to fill unexpired term of Jeff McDaniels,
expiring 06/30/2009
Recommendation to the Election Commission:
1. Appoint Nancy Wilson, term expiring 06/30/2009
Recommendation to the Tree Committee:
1. Reappoint Susie Moran, term expiring 06/30/2011
Recommendations to the Historical Preservation Commission:
1. Accept resignations of Cheryl DeLeo, Steve Blasingame and Charles
Burns
2. Appoint Derrick Charbonnet, term expiring 06/30/2009
3. Appoint Susan Mueller, term expiring 06/30/2010
4. Appoint Bevelyn Ray, term expiring 06/30/2010
Fire
Chief Hare reported that the Public Safety Committee met to discuss the fire safety issue regarding fireworks. The comments that came out of the meeting were a ban on propelled fireworks, a total ban on all fireworks or looking at the old ordinance to see if it is sufficient. The bottom line of what was decided is that the ordinance as it stands demands that individuals not endanger their neighbors.
*Note: Alderman Denyer left at 8:10 p.m.
City Attorney
The City Attorney reported that a public meeting was well attended to discuss a smoking ban in public buildings. He has been researching model ordinances from other cities. The Mayor asked the Board if they would like to see public input on this issue, not bring it to the public at all or table the issue all together. The majority of the board does not want to pursue a ban on smoking. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to suspend any further activity by the City Attorney to research a smoking ban until such time that the board changes its direction. Motion carried with Aldermen McDonnell, Lloyd, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Aldermen Gill and Weaver voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to adopt Ordinance No. 26-2006 AN AMENDMENT TO THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI, AMDENDING THOSE REGULATIONS GOVERNING AND CONTROLLING THE OPOERATION OF TOW SERVICES WITHIN OCEAN SPRINGS (Exhibit 7-f). 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 Absent
Alderman Dalgo Voted Aye
Alderman Hagan Voted Aye
ALDERMAN’S FORUM
None.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to adjourn until 6:00 p.m. on September 5, 2006.
