Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 3, 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 July 3, 2007. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Lloyd, McDonnell, Weaver, Dalgo, Denyer and Hagan were present. Also present were City Attorney John Edwards and City Clerk Adrienne Howell. Alderman Gill was absent.
The Mayor gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
OLD BUSINESS
Supervisor John McKay presented the final drawings of the Ocean Springs Raod/Highway 90 Intersection. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the designs as conceptual, encourage the county to go forward, keep us in the loop, schedule a public hearing concerning this, have two or three drawings available for public viewing in the next week, conduct conversation with Aldermen Gill and the Community Development & Planning Department before the Public Hearing which will be held July 26, 2007 at the Civic Center.
The Mayor removed item 3-b from the agenda to be addressed at the next meeting.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to accept the Planning Commissions recommendation to approve rezoning of property from R-2 (Single Family Residential) to C-3 (Highway Commercial) at 714 Halstead due to a change in character in the neighborhood. Motion carried with Aldermen McDonnell, Weaver, Dalgo, Denyer and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Lloyd voting nay.
NEWBUSINESS
Mr. Anthony Johnson, President of the Ocean Springs Firefighters Association presented a request to have the organization recognized by the City. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to table the request at this time and discuss again in six weeks. Motion carried with Aldermen Lloyd, McDonnell, Dalgo and Denyer voting aye and Aldermen Weaver and Hagan voting nay. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to instruct the City Attorney in the interim to meet with the President of the Ocean Springs Firefighters Association to substantiate some of the items that have been discussed tonight and to put it in a written form so the Board can have a better understanding of exactly what it means to formally recognize the association.
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to table item 4-b due to the requestors not being present.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Chelius Carter with the MS Department of Archives and History gave an update on the status of the Charnley House explaining that a plan is underway for restoration and stabilization.
Mr. Jerry Stroud, 1303 Porter Avenue, reported that he has been working on the house which had been slated for demolition and said that the Chief Building Official recommends that he be allowed to continue with the work. Alderman Lloyd said that progress has been made and he hopes it continues. The Community Development Director said that Mr. Stroud will be submitting a plan to the Chief Building Official for further progress.
Mr. Henry Laird, attorney representing the Concerned Citizens, requested that the Board take the following actions: 1) sign the bill of exceptions on the Front Beach Condominium appeal for preliminary plat approval and 2) set appeal hearing dates with the Zoning & Adjustment Board for building permits for Ocean Pointe Condominiums and Front Beach Condominiums.
Ms. Courtney Blossman asked it there is any law or ordinance to prevent an historic home from dying in reference to the Casanova House on Robinson Avenue across the street from Marshall Park which sustained significant damage from Hurricane Katrina and is missing part of the roof. The Mayor said she has been in contact with the owner about the house who said that it is in such poor condition that it cannot have a tarp on the roof. The Community Development & Planning Department will conduct an inspection to see if it can be saved.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to include the Addendum Consent Agenda items with the approval of the Consent Agenda. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (a) and (j) which were pulled by the Mayor, item (r) which was pulled by Alderman Weaver and item (t) which was pulled by Alderman McDonnell.
The Mayor pulled item (a) and explained that Travis Green was appointed to the Planning Commission but will be moving out of City limits and has withdrawn his indication to serve. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to accept the removal of Travis Green from the Planning Commission due to residence outside of City limits.
The Mayor pulled item (j) and the City Clerk explained that a bill was received from Walter Bolton and Associates for architectural drawings for the Public Safety Facility which were done several years ago. Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to table the item and instruct the Mayor and City Clerk to contact Walter Bolton for clarification.
Alderman Weaver pulled item (r) and asked the status of the property owner. The Community Development Director said that the property owner has abandoned the house which is storm damaged and will likely go into foreclosure. Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to authorize beginning the lot cleaning process at 5912 Chicopee Trace.
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (t) and expressed his concern about making sure this procedure is handled properly because the property owners have indicated they will appeal the decision. The Community Development Director said that the owners have said that the home is infested with termites and he would like to have it inspected by a termite inspector. Alderman McDonnell asked that the inspection be done in the next two weeks. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to table item (t) for two weeks and let the property owner know that he cannot do anything to the structure while it is tabled pending the inspection.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
The Mayor announced that there will be a planned Board retreat for Strategic Planning on July 6, 2007 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Preserve in Vancleave with facilitator Phil Hardwick from the Stennis Institute of Government. Several board members said that they will not be able to attend so the Mayor will make arrangements for a new date.
The Mayor presented a memorandum from the Jackson County Utility Authority stipulating that it is their position that all storm water regulations be deferred to the county and municipalities and not the responsibility of the Authority (Exhibit 7-b).
Police
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to authorize one-way traffic on Front Beach, July 4, 2007 for traffic control with the hours to be set by the Police Department.
Fire
Alderman McDonnell asked that the Residential Sprinkler report (Exhibit 7-d) be held to be discussed with the new Fire Chief and that the Interim Fire Chief review the water pressure findings on Lovers Lane to determine if it is high enough to work in residential sprinklers on the second floor.
ALDERMAN’S FORUM
Alderman Denyer requested a report from the Mayor and the Public Works Director at the next meeting of the status of the federal highway paving projects throughout the City.
Alderman Denyer would like to implement a lot cleaning in on Halstead Road across from Ridgewood Road where a proposed new development is going to go.
Alderman Denyer asked the Community Development Director for the status of the metal building on Pine Drive that is supposed to have a brick façade.
Alderman Denyer said that there is a great deal of graffiti on the Ferson Optic building and tasked the Mayor to find a solution to get rid of graffiti in a timely manner.
Alderman Denyer tasked the Police Chief to study the possibility of a curfew for minors and find out what other cities do.
Alderman Denyer suggested that the Board consider mailing a State of the City pamphlet to all citizens similar to the one the City of Biloxi mailed and asked the Mayor to get a cost estimate.
Alderman McDonnell said that grace was given for a lot cleaning at 406 Porter Avenue a month ago and he has received several complaints about the condition of the property and asked that Code Enforcement follow up.
Alderman McDonnell asked that Code Enforcement address the numerous curbside vendors that are open on the weekends. The City Clerk said that if these vendors do not have a Transient Vendor License the Police can close them down.
Alderman Denyer asked the Community Development Director to research how often a garage sale can be held because there is someone that seems to have one every weekend.
Alderman McDonnell said there is not a common consensus regarding the Fort Maurepas Park and asked the Mayor to get a sketch plan from the architect to study and consider the type of pavilion and maximize green space.
Alderman Lloyd gave an overview of the Harbor Commission meeting that was held earlier in the day (Exhibit 8-a).
Alderman Lloyd said that he and Alderman Weaver met with Supervisors McKay and Leach regarding consolidating or repositioning some of the tennis courts. The Parks Director is working on the matter.
Alderman Weaver asked the Police Chief to be vigilant about enforcing the Fireworks Ordinance on the holiday tomorrow to protect private property.
Alderman Hagan asked the City Attorney to prepare a report outlining what is required by law for lot cleaning or demolition including notification, a timeline and dollar limits.
The City Attorney asked that a motion be made regarding a water certificate. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to approve the Water Certificate purchase at the previously negotiated price, authorize the Mayor to execute the documents related to the purchase and amend the budget accordingly.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, 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 Dalgo, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss ongoing litigation, personnel matters in the Police Department and Building Department.
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to recess until 6:00 p.m. on July 17, 2007.
