Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
RECESS MEETING OF MARCH 18, 2008
Be it remembered that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ocean Springs met in a Recess meeting at the Ocean Springs Civic Center in the City of Ocean Springs at 6:00 p.m. on March 18, 2008. The Mayor presiding, Aldermen Gill, Lloyd, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan were present. Also present were City Clerk Shelly Ferguson and City Attorney John Edwards. Alderman McDonnell was absent.
Alderman Denyer gave the invocation. The Mayor led the pledge of allegiance.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan, and unanimously carried to add Item 4-c Building Department Appointment under New Business; accept the Addendum to the Agenda and add Acceptance of Bill of Sale and Gift Agreement to the Addendum.
OLD BUSINESS
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill, and unanimously carried to allow Thomas Reynolds, Jr. to place a swimming pool on a portion of the City easement and further that the Building Department and Public Works Department concurs (Exhibit 3-a).
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to accept the Bill of Sale and Gift Agreement subject to including the payment of $35,000.00 to defray the costs of moving and renovating the cottage.
Ms. Chandra Nicholson gave a presentation on the results of the drainage study performed by Neel-Schaffer.
NEW BUSINESS
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to contribute $2,000.00 to the “We the People Team” for their trip to Washington D.C. to compete in the national competition to advertise and promote the resources of the City of Ocean Springs and to amend the budget accordingly (Exhibit 4-a).
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer, and unanimously carried to authorize the stated purposes in Exhibit 4-b regarding Mayfest 2008.
Motion was made by Denyer to promote Terry Agar to Building Official, at his present salary, six-month probationary period, at which time salary will be determined and must complete Building Official certification within one-year. Alderman Denyer withdrew his motion and asked to discuss this matter in executive session.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Ms. Amanda Watkins, 1703 West Railroad Street, asked for assistance due to a neighbor filling a ditch and causing flooding at her residence. The Interim Building Official advised that a letter had been sent to Mr. Gregory asking him to correct this problem.
Ms. Courtney Blossman asked when Smart Code planning would be adopted and if public hearings would be held; asked the City to place tarp on Casanova House; asked why are trees being trimmed and when would the vacancies on the Tree Committee be filled.
Ms. Anne Marie Moreton objected to the trees being removed at Bay Village.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver and seconded by Alderman Hagan to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (j) which was pulled by the Police Chief, item (u) which was pulled by Alderman Weaver, and items (x) and (z) which were pulled by Alderman Hagan, (aa) which was pulled by Alderman Lloyd and item (1a) from the Addendum which was pulled by Alderman Dalgo. Motion carried with Aldermen Lloyd, Weaver, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Gill abstaining.
Alderman Weaver pulled item (u) and asked for clarification of section 8.B.1 of the Tree Ordinance. Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to approve the tree committee report with the exception of 3823 Cabilbo which was tabled for clarification (Exhibit 6-u).
Alderman Hagan pulled item (x) and asked why a building permit needs to be approved by the Board. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer, and unanimously carried to authorize a building permit for a private bridge for a driveway at 321 Shearwater Drive (Exhibit 6-x).
Alderman Hagan pulled item (z) and stated that this was the development that has drainage issues as discussed earlier. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer, and unanimously carried to accept the Planning Commission recommendation to approve sketch plat for Phase II of the South Breeze Planned Unit Development (Exhibit 6-z).
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (aa) and asked that the drainage issue had been addressed. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Gill, and unanimously carried to accept the Planning Commission recommendation to approve final plat request for Armand Oaks Phase II (Exhibit 6-aa).
Alderman Dalgo pulled item (1a) from the Addendum and asked to add 34 bicycles to surplus list. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan, and unanimously carried to authorize two vehicles and 34 bicycles to be declared surplus and of no value to the City and sent to the Jackson County auction (Exhibit A-1a).
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver, seconded by Alderman Dalgo, and unanimously carried to temporarily lift the Front Beach Drive one way weekend traffic from Jackson Avenue southwardly towards Washington Avenue for a six-month period.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Community Development & Planning:
The Community Development Director gave a power point presentation of the Downtown and Front Beach Public Design Forum.
ADDENDUM
The Mayor presented a letter from the Jackson County Utility Authority concerning Procedures and Fee Schedules (Exhibit A-2a).
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to accept the Audit Report for Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2006, and Management Letter performed by Wolfe, McDuff, Oppie & Associated (Exhibit A-2b).
ALDERMEN’S FORUM
Alderman Gill reported that a drainage pipe on Churchill Drive and Sussex Drive was in dire need of repair. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize the City Engineer to prepare specifications and to advertise for bids to clean, video and repair pipe at Churchill Drive and Sussex Drive.
Alderman Dalgo asked to place caution lights at the Ocean Springs Middle School. The Community Development Director advised that he will report at the next meeting concerning this matter.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Weaver and unanimously carried to authorize up to $3,000.00 from the Ward 6 Capital Improvements Account for capital improvements for a lighted flag post at Trentwood Subdivision.
Alderman Hagan asked the City Attorney what the federal regulations are for tree clearance on the City streets.
Alderman Dalgo stated he would like to have all meetings at the Board room at City Hall.
Alderman Lloyd asked that a street light be placed at 2218 Beaugez Street.
Alderman Lloyd asked the Mayor and Alderman at Large for their thoughts on the sidewalk that the Mississippi Department of Transportation laid at Porter Avenue.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to authorize up to $2,500.00 from the Ward 6 Capital Improvements Account for capital improvements for fencing in Trentwood Subdivision.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo 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 Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss a personnel issue in the Building Department, land acquisition and potential litigation.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to hire Terry Agar as the Building Official, annual salary $49,000.00, six-moth probationary period and to complete the Building Official certification within one-year.
Motion was made by Alderman Weaver and seconded by Alderman Denyer to authorize the Mayor to negotiate a fee with Slaughter and Associates, PLLC to do a feasibility study on economic development. Motion carried with Alderman Gill, Lloyd, Weaver, and Denyer voting aye and Aldermen Dalgo and Hagan voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to adjourn until 6:00 p.m. on April 1, 2008.
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City Clerk Mayor
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