Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 2, 2007
Be it remembered that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ocean Springs met in a Regular meeting at City Hall in the City of Ocean Springs at 6:00 p.m. on January 2, 2007. 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.
Alderman Weaver gave the invocation and Mayor Moran led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PRESENTATION
Fire Chief Mark Hare displayed a State Farm grant in the amount of $5,000.00 for the Fire Department to be used for firefighter protective clothing, smoke detectors and in-vehicle electronic street locators (Exhibit 3-a).
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Matthew Langlinais was unable to attend the meeting (Exhibit 4-a).
Ms. Carol Jones, 4077 Groveland Road, expressed her opposition to the proposed rezoning at Deana/Groveland Roads. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to spread her letter upon the minutes (Exhibit 4-b).
Mr. James, Richardson, 1301 Glacier Road, expressed his opposition to the proposed rezoning at Deana/Groveland Roads (Exhibit 4-c).
PUBLIC COMMENT
Dr. Godsey presented pictures of flooded ditches in the Deana/Groveland Road area and expressed his concern about the proposed development causing flooding in the area.
Ms. Pam Dalton, 4084 Groveland Road, read a letter voicing her opposition to the development proposed at Groveland and Deana Road. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to spread her letter upon the minutes (Exhibit 5).
Mr. Larry Mitrenga owns Hyneman Companies which is requesting the change in zoning for the proposed development at Deana/Groveland Roads and said there is a tremendous need for affordable housing on the Gulf Coast.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of item (j) which was pulled by Mayor Moran.
Mayor Moran pulled item (j) and said that there is not a policy in place regarding expenditures from the Capital Improvement accounts as to whether Board approval is necessary. Several Aldermen said they would like the expenditures to appear on the Consent Agenda or be approved by motion under Alderman’s Forum. Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to establish a policy to bring Capital Improvement projects before the Board for approval.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to pledge a 10% match of up to $25,000.00 for an EDA Front Beach Master Plan grant if awarded (exhibit 7-a).
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize the Mayor to sign the Mississippi Department of Archives and History permit to place a landmark sign at the Mary C. O’Keefe Center (exhibit 7-g).
The Mayor presented an invitation from the Mississippi Development Authority to submit application for three proposals for the first round of grants (Exhibit 7-h).
The Mayor announced that the MEC Economic Forum will be held January 4, 2007 and invited any board members that may be interested to attend.
The Mayor announced that the meeting with the citizens of the Waterview District and Harborview stakeholders will be held Monday, January 29, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the Community Center. The results from the survey will be presented and community input on the beach and building height will be discussed.
The Mayor announced that the Gulf Coast Legislative Reception will be held on February 10, 2007 in Jackson and invited interested Board members to attend. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to pay all reasonable expenses for the trip to the Legislative Reception on February 10, 2007.
City Clerk
The City Clerk presented the recommendations to appoint Dr. Robert Strobel and Mr. Robert Mohler to the Taxi Board. The Mayor recused herself and left the room for the discussion and Mayor Pro Tempore Weaver assumed control of the meeting. Alderman McDonnell said that Mr. Mohler does not live in City limits and would not be eligible to serve. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to appoint Dr. Strobel to the Taxi Board. Mayor Moran returned following the vote and assumed control of the meeting.
City Engineer
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to award the bid for Citywide building repairs due to Hurricane Katrina storm damage to M & W and Associates, Inc. in the amount of $93,351.05 (Exhibit 7-i).
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize the City Engineer to go forward with quotes for repair of the Champ Gaye fire station due Hurricane Katrina storm damage.
City Engineer
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to award the bid for standing dead tree removal on residential private property within Hurricane Katrina surge inundation area to Worley Tree Service (Exhibit 7-d).
Community Development & Planning
Mr. Scruggs presented the Planning Commissions approval of ASA Properties request for a rezoning of the southeast corner of Deana and Groveland Roads from I-1 to R-4 (Exhibit 7-e). Motion was made by Alderman Hagan and seconded by Alderman Lloyd to approve the rezoning at Groveland and Deana Roads from I-1 to R-4 with the stipulation that the first four units immediately south of Lot 1 shall not exceed two stories and the zoning will revert back to the original classification if the development and/or use of the land does not occur within two years. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Aldermen Denyer voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill and seconded by Alderman Hagan to adopt Ordinance No. 1-2007 AN AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE NO. 13-1976 REZONING PROPERTY HEREIN DESCRIBED FROM I-1 TO R-4 (Exhibit 7-e). 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 Nay
Alderman Dalgo Voted Aye
Alderman Hagan Voted Aye
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to accept the Historic Preservation Commissions approval of COA at 1102 Bowen Avenue (Exhibit 7-f).
Mr. Scruggs announced that a Public Hearing will be held at City Hall on Wednesday, January 10, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. for the Community Development Block Grant projects that have been submitted.
City Attorney
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to grant the Mayor permission to answer a complaint to confirm title in Gulf Park Estates.
ALDERMAN’S FORUM
Alderman Denyer said there was no garbage pickup on Tuesday and asked when it would resume. Mr. Groue replied that the pickup is running a day behind due to the holiday.
Alderman Denyer asked Mr. Scruggs to have Code Enforcement investigate a lot on Dogwood Road and Seymour Avenue which has nine vacant cars.
Alderman Lloyd suggested placing cameras on the traffic control lights on Highway 90 because the running of red lights is a tremendous problem. The Mayor said she spoke with MDOT about cameras and they said that they cannot be used for prosecution purposes according to state law.
Alderman McDonnell asked Mr. Scruggs if a metal shed that has been erected would be required to be bricked or wrapped according to the Design Review Guidelines. Mr. Scruggs said that he will investigate.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Hagan 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 Weaver, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss personnel matters in the Planning Department and Mary C. O’Keefe Center, potential litigation and current litigation regarding the Concerned Citizens and Smith Property, hiring outside counsel and economic development on the Waterfront.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to hire Dogan & Wilkinson to defend the Smith property lawsuit.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to recess until 6:00 p.m. on January 16, 2007.
