Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
RECESS MEETING OF JUNE 20, 2007
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 June 20, 2007. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver, Dalgo and Hagan were present. Also present was City Attorney John Edwards and Deputy City Clerk Shelly Ferguson. Alderman Denyer and City Clerk Adrienne Howell were absent.
Alderman Weaver gave the invocation and the Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance.
OLD BUSINESS
The Mayor presented a letter from Architect Cooper Norman regarding the progress of the Charnley House (Exhibit 3-a).
The Mayor presented a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in the Mississippi Alternative Housing Program which will provide cottages by a lottery system to some residents of FEMA trailers (Exhibit 3-b). Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to table the issue until further research is done. Motion failed with Aldermen McDonnell, Lloyd and Dalgo voting aye, Aldermen Gill, Weaver and Hagan voting nay and the Mayor breaking the tie and voting nay. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to opt out of the program altogether. Following discussion, Alderman Dalgo withdrew his second and the motion died for lack of a second. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to authorize participation in the Mississippi Alternative Housing Program with the stipulation that the last sentence of the third section of the Memorandum of Understanding be removed which allows the ability to purchase the cottage; the City must be provided a list of recipients, where the cottages will be placed and the Mayor and Board of Aldermen have the absolute final approval on each individual site. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Neil Harris presented a request to remove the remainder of his storm damaged home at 619 East Beach which is greater than fifty years old (Exhibit 4-a). Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize demolition at 619 East Beach.
Mr. Alex Scharr requested assistance for the 3rd Annual Ocean Springs Music Festival (Exhibit 4-b). Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to provide assistance for the 3rd Annual Ocean Springs Music Festival on July 21, 2007 by closing Robinson Road, providing bleachers, trash cans and security to promote the arts and resources of the City and ask that a letter from HOSA with their approval to use Marshall Park be provided.
Mr. Donald Scharr, 108 Shearwater Drive, addressed item w of the Consent Agenda regarding a lot split at 110 Shearwater Drive and said the proposed recommendation to the Planning Commission is to allow for a 25’ lot width at the road and the current ordinance requires 35’ lot width at the road. He is concerned that his water and utility lines may be affected and requests that the lot split be denied because it is not in accordance with the ordinance or to table it to allow Mr. and Mrs. White to work it out with the neighbors. The Community Development Director explained that the ordinance Mr. Scharr is referring to is a subdivision regulation which is a different element and the request does comply with the R-1 Zoning Ordinance.
VERY VERY OLD BUSINESS
Deputy Police Chief George Mulvaney addressed the Mayor, Board of Aldermen and employees to thank them for the pleasure of working for the City for over thirty years and will be retiring on June 29, 2007.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Jerry Stroud said that he has been informed that the home he owns at 1303 Porter Avenue has been scheduled for demolition but he is in the process of repairing the home. The Mayor said the Building Department has been in the lot cleaning process on this property for over a year and the owner has been repeatedly contacted, no significant progress has been made and demolition has been scheduled. Alderman Lloyd said that he wants the process to continue until the property has been brought up to the standards required by the Building Department. The City Attorney will review the file and report back to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
ADDENDUM
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to adopt the Consent Agenda of the Addendum.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (a), (b) and (c-6.) which were pulled by the Mayor, item (l) which was pulled by Alderman Hagan, items (q), (r), (s) and (c-7.) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd and item (w) which was pulled by Alderman McDonnell.
The Mayor pulled item (a) of the Consent Agenda to make a finding regarding the donation. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize lending the Community Center chairs and round tables to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art for the 2nd Annual Evening of the Arts in Autumn on Saturday, November 3, 2007, to make a finding for a donation to support the arts and that the service will be matched by money from other donees.
The Mayor pulled item (b) of the Consent Agenda to make a finding regarding the donation. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize the waiver of rental fee of the Civic Center on September 22, 2007 for the Ocean Springs Lions Club Fish Fry to make a finding for a donation to a community service organization and that the waiver will be matched by money from those purchasing food.
The Mayor pulled item (c-6) and said that the reappointment should be for Robert Mohler instead of Dr. Robert Stroebel. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to reappoint Robert Mohler to the Taxi Board, term expiring June 20, 2008.
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (c-7) to abstain from the vote. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to reappoint Walter Dye to the Taxi Board, term expiring June 20, 2008. Alderman Lloyd abstained from the vote.
Alderman Lloyd pulled items (q), (r), and (s) to give an eyewitness account of the properties before a vote is taken. He reported that the home at 815 General Pershing Avenue looks like it is about to collapse and does not appear to be salvageable, the home at 204 North Street looks like it suffers from neglect and storm damage and does not appear to be salvageable, and the home at 2109 School Street is in the same condition and does not appear to be salvageable. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to adopt resolutions determining the necessity for lot cleanings at 815 General Pershing Avenue (Exhibit 7-q), 204 North Street (Exhibit 7-r) and 2109 School Street (Exhibit 7-s).
Alderman McDonnell pulled item (w) to hear from Mr. White about the lot split and to get some clarification about the map. Mr. White displayed the map and pointed out his easement. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Gill to approve the lot split based on the following conditions; 1) that the property owners, Mr. White and/or Mr. McClain whichever one chooses to do so take the responsibility of locating Mr. Scharr’s water lines to insure that no damage occurs during the installation process and if damage is incurred that the cost be born by Mr. McClain, 2) that the utilities run by Mr. McClain are put at the furthest distance possible from Mr. Scharr’s utilities within the easement to where Mr. Scharr will not incur any additional cost for future maintenance and 3) that the City inspect to ensure that the motion is carried out. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.
Alderman Hagan pulled item (l) and asked if a memorandum regarding a request to advertise for the position of Fire Chief is part of the item. The Mayor said that it is not. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to accept the letter of intent to retire from Fire Chief Mark Hare, effective June 29, 2007, and appoint Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Williams as Interim Fire Chief. The Mayor requested consideration to raise the salary of Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Williams to that of the Fire Chief while he serves as the Interim Fire Chief. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to raise the salary of Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Williams to that of the Fire Chief while he serves as the Interim Fire Chief. The Mayor requested consideration to advertise both in house and outside for the position of Fire Chief. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Gill to advertise both in house and outside for the position of Fire Chief. Alderman Hagan said that he does not want to advertise outside at the outset but would like to consider the internal candidates first and if a suitable candidate is not found within then he would propose advertising outside. Motion was withdrawn by Alderman McDonnell. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to authorize advertising in house for the position of Fire Chief for period of fourteen days.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
The Mayor reported that notice will have to be given forty five days in advance of the date to be selected for the Special Election for a 2% tax on restaurants and lounges for the public safety facility and recreation master plan. A date has not yet been determined for the Special Election which will be a City election and will not be part of the upcoming November 7, 2007 county election.
Community Development & Planning
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to table the appeal of the Planning Commissions recommendation to deny rezoning of property from R-2 (Single Family Residential) to C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) at 714 Halstead Road (Exhibit A-2a). Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to request the Planning Commission to convene a Special Call meeting between now and July 3, 2007 to hear the request for rezoning at 714 Halstead Road and give an opinion based on what is allowed.
ALDERMAN’S FORUM
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to place a damage deposit refund on the docket to be paid to Kristen Haynes in the amount of $200.00 (Exhibit 9).
Alderman Lloyd said that there are homes being repaired by church organizations that the City is charging a full permit for the repairs because the one dollar building permit fee for Hurricane Katrina damage expired on June 1, 2007. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to continue the one dollar building permit fee until December 31, 2007 for all home owners that sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina who are planning to rebuild if they owned their property before August 29, 2005. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to reimburse the people that have paid full price for building permits between June 1, 2007 and June 20, 2007 that sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina and owned their property before August 29, 2005.
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to appoint the Community Development & Planning Director to be the official contact person with the Governor’s Housing Office.
Alderman Dalgo said that the streets in Alderman Denyer’s ward cannot be paved until they are milled and the county does not have a milling truck. He asked Mr. Groue if a milling truck could be rented to take care of this matter. Mr. Groue said that his understanding is that the county may try to lease a truck to get the milling done and might request the Mayor and Board of Aldermen to share the cost. The Mayor said she would follow up on the matter with the county. Alderman Dalgo asked Mr. Groue to get a cost estimate for milling the streets in Ward 4 from a private contractor.
Alderman Hagan asked the Community Development Director to provide photographs of properties recommended for lot cleanings.
Alderman Hagan said he has had several calls about animal control and the people have been told that the Police Department does not respond to animal control calls at night which is incorrect information. Captain Louie Miller said that the Animal Control Officer is called out after hours for a vicious animal or something of that nature.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to allow the Public Works Department to purchase a John Deere Gator 4X6 utility vehicle to be utilized picking up trash with $1,000.00 from Ward II Capital Improvement Fund, $1,000.00 from Ward III Capital Improvement Fund $1,000.00 from Ward V Capital Improvement Fund and up to $7,000.00 from Ward VI Capital Improvement Fund.
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd and seconded by Alderman Gill to give the owner of 1303 Porter Avenue until the end of the month to clean the lot and if they have not met the Building Departments requirements to bring the house and lot into order then the process will be continued. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Weaver and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.
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 Deputy 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 current litigation regarding zoning, current litigation regarding ordinance interpretation, potential litigation in hiring policies, personnel issues in the Police Department, personnel issues in the Fire Department and economic development within City limits.
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to adjourn until 6:00 p.m. on July 3, 2007.
