Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 2009
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 6, 2009. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer and Dalgo were present. Also present were City Clerk Shelly Ferguson and City Attorney John Edwards. Alderman Hagan was absent.
Alderman Weaver gave the invocation and the Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance.
OLD BUSINESS
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to authorize to award bid to Cal-Mar Construction Co. for Alice Street tennis court project (Exhibit 3-a).
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to approve the preliminary design for the downtown intersections of Washington/Government, Washington/Porter and Washington/Robinson; Martin Luther King, Jr./Government and Desoto parking lot as Phase One excluding the Chamber of Commerce parking lot (Exhibit 3-b).
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mr. Perry Guice, 1405 Middle Avenue, stated he currently has a MEMA cottage in his back yard and if allowed to purchase the cottage from MEMA, he asked for permission to keep it in his yard as a mother-in-law cottage or guest house after his residence has been repaired due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to amend the Agenda by adding the Addendum and move items A-2b and A-2c to the Consent Agenda.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (d) and (A-1b) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd; item (f) which was pulled by Alderman Weaver; items (r) and (t) which were pulled by Alderman Dalgo and item (n) which was pulled by the Mayor.
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (d) and asked if this request had been made in the past. The Facilities Director advised that the Ocean Springs Art Association has held the art show for approximately 23 years held the same time every year and it is open to the public. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to authorize use of the Ocean Springs Community Center for the 38th Annual Fine Art Show from October 22nd through November 16th (Exhibit 5-d).
Alderman Weaver pulled item (f) to make corrections to the Minutes of December 16, 2008. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to correctly name “Mr. Joseph B. Garrard II” making a check presentation and to name the property “Keyes Municipal Park” in honor or Myrtle and Earl Keyes (Exhibit 5-f).
The Mayor pulled item (n) to change the hourly rate to $12.50 pending successful completion of all pre-employment requirements and to increase hourly rate to $13.94 upon successful completion of the police academy training. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize employment of Ronald Alexander as Patrolman, hourly rate $12.50, effective January 7, 2009, pending successful completion of all pre-employment requirements and increase hourly rate to $13.94 pending successful completion of policy academy training (Exhibit 5-n).
Alderman Dalgo pulled item (r) to ask if the department heads were made aware of the new policy form and had given their input. The Human Resources/Risk Manager Director advised the department heads received a copy of the new form and they concurred. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to approve policy for Request Form for Employee Promotion or Salary Change (Exhibit 5-r).
Alderman Dalgo pulled item (t) to ask if Mr. Glenn Miller was made aware of the findings of the Engineer concerning the drainage/parking at Little Children’s Park. The Public Works Director, the Assistant Public Works Director along with Alderman McDonnell met with Mr. Miller and he concurred with the findings. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to accept the Engineer’s findings on Little Children’s Drainage/Parking (Exhibit 5-t).
Alderman Hagan arrives at the meeting.
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (A-1b) to ask for clarification concerning the Contract. The Mayor advised that the Contract will be negotiated and presented to the Board for approval. The Mayor explained the selection committee process. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and second by Alderman Weaver to accept recommendation of the selection committee to hire M.A. Howard Consulting, LLC as project manager for the construction phase of Fort Maurepas to be funded by FEMA. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay (Exhibit A-2a).
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor:
The Planning Director explained that a bid was received for the City Hall Annex Renovations and Addition from Glenn Sumlin of Baysouth Realty & Development in the amount of $168,528.00. Mr. Meyer requested making a budget amendment to allow to move forward with the bid by using salary funds currently in the budget of $18,528.00. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize to transfer funds from salaries to capital improvement.
The Mayor announced that Karen Whitley, School Board appointee, does not intend to run for another term. There will be an opening on the School Board and anyone wishing to submit an application can do so.
The Mayor advised that the City has been awarded a total of $200,000.00 in tidelands grant funding for fiscal year 2009. The Board has committed $100,000 of this funding to go towards the Fort Maurepas project. The Mayor asked for input concerning the other $100,000 tidelands funds. Alderman Denyer suggested having a public meeting to receive input from the citizens. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to set an open meeting for Monday, January 12th at 5:30 p.m. to discuss strategic planning for capital improvements and priority projects (Exhibit A-2a).
Community Development & Planning:
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to authorize the Planning Director to negotiate a contract with Shred-It concerning cardboard and paper recycling for a trial program and present to the Board for consideration. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver and Denyer voting aye and Aldermen Dalgo and Hagan voting nay (Exhibit 6-c).
The Planning Director asked for input concerning the placement of recycling bins for plastic, aluminum and glass throughout the downtown and city parks. The Mayor advised she will invite a representative from Delta Sanitation to a meeting to answer questions about recycling issues (Exhibit 6-c).
The Planning Director discussed allowing MEMA cottages to remain in the City. He reported there are 7 MEMA cottages on private property excluding the cottages in Cottage Square and Alwyn Luckey site. The Planning Director will present a memo to the Board concerning this matter at the next meeting.
Facilities:
The Facilities Director presented a list of organizations using City rental facilities at no cost. He reported that organizations are requesting to use the facilities many times during the year at no cost. The Mayor’s office and Facilities Director will contact the organization for purpose of use and different fee rates for government and non-profit organizations.
Parks & Leisure Services:
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd and seconded by Alderman Gill to erect signs to prohibit golfing at Freedom Field and all ball fields. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Weaver voting nay (Exhibit 6-f).
City Attorney:
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo and seconded by Alderman Hagan to adopt Ordinance No. 2009-01 AN AMENDMENT TO CODE OF ORDINANCES, THE CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI, DEFINING THE SPEED LIMITS IN CERTAIN AREAS (Exhibit 6-g). 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
The Building Official presented an Order changing the policy to more efficiently bring a potential property owner into compliance if their property is deemed in need of cleaning. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to accept the policy change concerning the demolition and clean/up policy of properties deemed unclean and authorize the Mayor to execute the Order. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay (Exhibit 6-h).
ALDERMEN’S FORUM
Alderman Weaver recommended the Finance Committee review the change requested by the Facilities Director in custodial services at the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center provided and to invite Director, Eric Zala to attend the meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 9th, at 9:00 a.m.
Alderman Weaver reported there are several vacancies on the Zoning and Adjustment Board. She asked if any Board members know of anyone wishing to serve on this board they be notified to fill out an application to be voted on at the next meeting.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize up to $1,000.00 from Ward 4 Capital Improvement Account for Stark Bayou Subdivision lighting project.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to vote on appointments for vacancies on the Boards and Commissions at the February 3rd Mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting.
Alderman Hagan asked for clarification concerning how water bills are calculated for businesses located at the Industrial Park. The City Clerk will investigate this matter. The Finance Committee will also review this matter.
Alderman Lloyd asked for clarification allowing city employees and board members to use the YMCA at no cost to the individual. The Mayor advised she will get clarification concerning memberships for city employees and board members.
Alderman Denyer asked for clarification concerning a youth detention facility being built at the Sunplex Industrial Park. The Police Chief advised he would research this matter.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Gill 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 Gill and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss land acquisition; economic development and potential litigation.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to recess until 5:30 p.m. on January 12, 2009.
Meeting ended at 8:40 p.m.
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City Clerk Mayor
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