Aldermen Minutes
MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS
REGULAR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 1, 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 September 1, 2009. Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Ross, Gill, McDonnell, Cody, Denyer and Dalgo were present. Also present were City Clerk Shelly Ferguson and City Attorney John Edwards. Alderman Hagan was absent.
Alderman Ross gave the invocation and the Mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC HEARING
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to open a public hearing for the purpose of discussing the FY 09-10 proposed budget (Exhibit 3-a). The City Clerk gave an overview of the highlights of the proposed budget. Ms. Jane Beaugez asked for clarification on the change orders and budget amendments that arise during the year and where does the money come from to pay for the changes. The Mayor explained the money comes from different budgeted items or other funding sources such as grants, CDBG funds and tidelands funds. Every construction project has a built in contingency to cover the change orders costs, if any. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to close the Public Hearing (Exhibit 3-a).
PRESENTATION
Mr. Frank Burandt with Greg Cantrell, Inc. presented the Ocean Springs Harbor Drive conceptual drawing and gave an overview of the improvements. Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to approve the conceptual drawing of the Ocean Springs Harbor Road improvements and recommend it to the Jackson County Board of Supervisors for their consideration (Exhibit 4-a).
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Scott Ratcliff spoke on behalf of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Sports Commission and presented a proposal for sponsorship from the City of Ocean Springs of $5,000.00 for three (3) years to participate in the Bernard Blackwell State High School All-Star Football Game. He advised Gulfport, Biloxi and Oceans Springs were the selected sites to host the event for a three year rotation and to sign a six year contract with the Mississippi Coaches Association so each facility can be host for two (2) years. The Board asked Mr. Ratcliff to meet with the Ocean Springs School District and the Ocean Springs Athletic Foundation to ask for funding and use of the stadium and report to the Board with their intentions (Exhibit 5-a).
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Ms. Jane Beaugez, 213 Halstead Road, asked if there is a list of the Boards and Commissions and stated she felt there is a conflict of interest by appointing Mr. Thomas Reynolds, Sr. to the Planning Commission. The Mayor stated the list was posted on the website.
Ms. Joyce Shaw, 107 Pine Drive, stated her opposition to the proposed 3-way stop sign at Pine Drive and Shearwater Drive.
Mr. Mike Streiff, 3842 Chaumont Circle, spoke on behalf of the Ocean Springs Education Foundation and invited the Mayor and the Board to the drawdown and fundraiser for the Ocean Springs School System to be held on September 11th at the Ocean Springs Civic Center.
Mr. Donald Scharr, 108 Shearwater Drive, spoke in favor of the proposed 3-way stop sign at Pine Drive and Shearwater Drive. Alderman McDonnell clarified the speed hump would be removed and the stop sign would be erected.
Ms. Claire Brou, Jackson Avenue, thanked the City for all the improvements done at Fort Maurepas Park and asked if the speed hump in front of Fort Maurepas Park would remain permanently. The Mayor advised the speed hump is permanent. She further asked if the Noise Ordinance was enforced. The Police Chief stated the ordinance was enforced.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (g) which was pulled by Alderman Dalgo and item (l) which was pulled by the Police Chief.
Alderman Dalgo pulled item (g) to correct the minutes of August 24, 2009, to state “City Attorney was absent”. Motion was made by Alderman Dalgo, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to approve the minutes of August 24, 2009, with the corrections as stated.
The Police Chief pulled item (l) and asked to approve the Mary C. O’Keefe Music Festival event on October 24th with the exception of the road closure due to the Fort Maurepas opening to be held on the same day and they will be short on manpower. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to approve the Special Event Permits for the Ocean Springs Walk on OS Bridge – St. Vincent de Paul and the opening of the Fort Maurepas Park and table the Mary C. O’Keefe Music Festival Special Event Permit until the next meeting.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Mayor:
The Mayor presented to the Board for consideration an event to honor Jerry O’Keefe for the Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by the Pine Burr Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to authorize $1,500.00 to advertise City resources at this event (Exhibit 8-a).
Public Works:
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to authorize the Mayor, City Attorney, City Engineer, City Clerk and Public Works Director to request the Federal Government loan forgiveness for our SRF Loans and take any and all actions deemed necessary (Exhibit 8-b).
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to authorize the Public Works Director to submit additional items to Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for review which were not in the original Water/Sewer Expansion scope of work in order to fully expend the grant award.
Alderman Hagan arrives at the meeting at 7:49 p.m.
City Attorney:
Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to adopt Ordinance No. 2009-19 An Ordinance to Regulate the Towing of Vehicles Without the Vehicle Owners Consent and the Use of Vehicle Immobilization Services (Exhibit 8-c). The motion passed with a roll call vote as follows:
Alderman Ross Voted Aye
Alderman Gill Voted Aye
Alderman McDonnell Voted Aye
Alderman Cody Voted Aye
Alderman Denyer Voting Aye
Alderman Dalgo Voting Aye
Alderman Hagan Voting Aye
ALDERMEN’S FORUM
Alderman McDonnell requested the Planning Director to research the need to erect a 3-way stop sign at Pine Drive and Shearwater Drive and report to the Board at the next meeting.
Alderman Gill reported the finance committee recommended that the capital improvement funds for each Alderman be reduced to $10,000.00 plus the rollover for the FY09-10 budget.
Alderman Gill asked the Building Official to check 3224 and 3220 Nottingham for code enforcement violations.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Dalgo and unanimously carried to authorize up to $800.00 from Ward 1 Capital Improvement Account for landscaping at Braemar Subdivision.
Alderman Gill also asked the Building Official to check on a pine tree at 3513 King George Street that was hit by lightning and leaning towards the homeowner’s house.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Ross and unanimously carried to authorize up to $6.00 for microphones for the department heads.
Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Ross to include in the FY09-10 budget a reduction of millage by 2 mills and make up the difference in cash ending balance. The City Attorney and City Clerk spoke in opposition. Motion carried with Aldermen Ross, Gill, McDonnell, Cody and Hagan voting aye and Aldermen Denyer and Dalgo voting nay.
Alderman Denyer addressed the health insurance anniversary dates and how it affects the deductibles and Human Resource Committee recommended keeping health insurance as it is but may need to readdress it next year.
Alderman McDonnell asked the Police Chief to investigate a dog issue pertaining to pit bull dogs on Dewey Avenue.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Ross 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 personnel in all departments; potential litigation regarding a procedural issue; potential litigation regarding a construction issue and potential litigation regarding a contractual issue.
The City Attorney, John Edwards, exited executive session and asked the City Clerk to call Tony Gagliano. The City Clerk called twice. Tony Gagliano was not present.
Alderman Dalgo left the meeting at 10:36 pm.
Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Cody and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the recommendation of the Planning Director regarding Tony Gagliano.
Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman Ross and unanimously carried to reject all proposals received for solid waste collections.
Motion was made by Alderman Cody, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize the City Attorney and City Engineer to negotiate a contractual settlement regarding the construction dispute in accord with the parameters discussed in executive session.
Motion made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the recommendation of the Human Resource Committee pertaining to salary adjustments for City employees which is the 4% merit plus $750.00 per employee increase, totaling $412,276.00, and authorize the Mayor to meet with the Department Heads to outline the process in how this is to take place in terms of meeting with the Human Resource Committee to work towards setting a salary structure for all city departments.
Alderman McDonnell asked the Planning Director to clarify the Chamber parking lot plans and asked for the dates when the Chamber parking lot improvements were approved and email the dates to the Board to help in answering questions regarding this matter. The Planning Director clarified the plans included removing certain trees and planting 70 trees.
Motion was made by Alderman Cody, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to recess until 6:00 p.m. on September 15, 2009.
Meeting ended at 10:51 p.m.
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City Clerk Mayor
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