Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
RECESS MEETING OF NOVEMBER 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 5:00 p.m. on November 20, 2007. Mayor Pro Tempore Weaver presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan were present. Also present was Interim City Clerk Shelly Ferguson. Mayor Moran and City Attorney John Edwards were absent.
The Mayor Pro Tempore gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to go into closed session to determine the necessity of going into executive session.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to interview candidates for the position of City Clerk.
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to schedule public hearings for lot cleanings at 4146 Bienville Blvd. (Exhibit 4-a) and 132 Siowan Avenue (Exhibit 4-b) on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Frank Sutherland requested reprieve from an $896.00 water bill caused by a leak (Exhibit 5-a). Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to allow Mr. Sutherland’s water to remain on providing that he pays a monthly bill of an average that the Interim City Clerk deems appropriate based on his prior usage and authorize the Public Works Department, Mr. Sutherland and his landlord, Mr. Wally Page to meet to come to a finding as to what has happened and what the responsibilities are for each party and make a report to the Board at the next meeting to resolve the matter.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Wilkinson from Dogan & Wilkinson requested an Executive Session to explain the proceedings in court regarding the Concerned Citizens suit.
Ms. Jan Waterhouse requested that the Taxi Ordinance be changed to allow cab services from Harrison County to serve the City.
Ms. Pamela Cox said that there is a sign posted on the fence at Freedom Field in support of the 2¢ tax referendum which is not appropriate on public property.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to go into closed session to determine the necessity of going into executive session.
Interim City Clerk Shelly Ferguson returned to the meeting and announced that a motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss potential litigation.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (i) and (n) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd, item (s) which was pulled by Mayor Pro Tempore Weaver, item (t) which was pulled by Alderman Dalgo and item(x) which was pulled by Alderman Denyer.
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (i) to ask if there is a fee for testing firetrucks at the City of Biloxi and the Fire Chief said that there is not. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize testing of firetrucks at the City of Biloxi test pit and agree to free said city of any liability for any damages that might occur from testing.
Alderman Lloyd pulled item (n) and requested that the miscellaneous turnout gear be donated to a volunteer fire department. Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to authorize miscellaneous turnout gear to be declared surplus, of no value to the City and disposed of.
Mayor Pro Tempore Weaver pulled item (s) to discuss the request by Sweetgrass Estates to remove trees. The developer, Mr. Bo Etheridge, explained that the site needs to be graded for drainage and the trees will be replaced elsewhere. Motion was made by Alderman Hagan and seconded by Alderman Gill to accept the Tree Committee Report. Motion failed with Aldermen Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, and Denyer voting nay. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to allow the removal of trees with the understanding that the Director of Community Development & Planning will come back after studying the landscaping plan and any additional improvements that have been required by the City to be brought forth to the Board for further review to determine if an adjustment of a minimal replacement of trees at one for one be acceptable for this project or in the worst case two for one with 45 gallon replacement trees.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the Tree Committee report.
Alderman Dalgo pulled item (t) because the effective date is incorrect on the agenda. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize employment of Theresa Dobbs as Building Clerk, annual salary $23,649, effective November 21, 2007.
Alderman Denyer pulled item (x) was for a roll call vote. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Denyer to accept Planning Commissions recommendation to approve a change in zoning from R-4 to C-1 at 611 Jackson Avenue. The motion passed with a roll call vote as follows:
Alderman Weaver Presiding
Alderman Gill Voted Aye
Alderman McDonnell Voted Aye
Alderman Lloyd Voted Aye
Alderman Denyer Voted Aye
Alderman Dalgo Voted Aye
Alderman Hagan Voted Aye
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman Hagan to authorize $500.00 sponsorship to the American Heart Association Jackson County Heart Walk to promote the resources of the City on the grounds that the money will be used to match other donations (Exhibit 8-a). Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Denyer, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Lloyd voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize waiver of rental fee of the Community Center on May 22, 2008 for a district meeting of the Spanish Trail District Garden Club hosted by the Ocean Springs Garden Club to promote the resources of the City.
Police
Deputy Police Chief Mark Dunston presented recommendations for a change in ordinances regarding traffic on East Beach and Front Beach (Exhibit 8-c). Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to table the issue of traffic on East Beach and Front Beach until December 4, 2007. The Community Development Director explained that this issue will be addressed by the Front Beach Master Plan.
City Attorney
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Dalgo to adopt Ordinance No. 21-2007 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE OCEAN SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE OPERATION OF TAXICAB AND CERTAIN OTHER PASSENGER VEHICLES FOR HIRE BY ADDING OWNERS AND/OR OPERATORS FROM HARRISON COUNTY TO APPLY FOR PERMITS IN OCEAN SPRINGS CITY LIMITS under the basis that it is an emergency due to the holiday (Exhibit 8-d).
The motion passed with a roll call vote as follows:
Alderman Weaver Presiding
Alderman Gill Voted Aye
Alderman McDonnell Voted Aye
Alderman Lloyd Voted Aye
Alderman Denyer Voted Aye
Alderman Dalgo Voted Aye
Alderman Hagan Voted Aye
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to approve the application of Transportation Support Services for taxi service to include that the drivers will be properly screened within thirty days.
ADDENDUM
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to approve items A-1a, A-1b and A-1c of the Addendum to the Agenda.
ALDERMAN’S FORUM
Alderman McDonnell presented a picture of the Elephant Walk to the Assistant Public Works Director and asked him to investigate and report back what work is needed in the area.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to authorize $1,000.00 from the Alderman At Large Capital Improvement Account for capital improvements at Marble Springs for Mrs. Ethelyn Connor’s garden.
Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize $12,700.00 from Alderman At Large Capital Improvement Account to Parks & Leisure Services for upgrades to Clay Boyd Park.
Alderman Denyer asked that the Public Works Department respond in writing to Mr. Gay Young concerning backflow prevention and place a copy in each Alderman’s box.
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.
Interim City Clerk Shelly Ferguson returned to the meeting and announced that a motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss personnel in the City Clerk’s Department.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to instruct the City Attorney to construct an ordinance to place the position of City Clerk under Civil Service. Motion carried with Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Denyer and Dalgo voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.
Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to appoint Shelly Ferguson as the City Clerk, annual salary $50,000.00, probation six months.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to adjourn until 6:00 p.m. on December 4, 2007.
