• Bounds says he is “embarrassed”
• Daniel raised the question, Where are you going to get the additional money?
• Guy, Parker vote not to table project; Turnage, Bounds, Watkins and Mitchell vote to table it
• Project is working under a deadline that could see loss of funds, if deadline not met

PICAYUNE, Miss., Tuesday, June 30 — The City Council tabled a half-million-dollar paving project when they found out that the money available for the project and the estimated cost of it did not match.

There was a $126,000 difference between the $540,000 available for the project and the estimated $666,000 cost of it.

Bounds: Embarrassed over discrepancy.

The project, which is being funded by federal stimulous monies and portions of a bond issue, would see portions of North Main Street, Palestine Road, Crosby and Beech streets overlayed.

The discrepancy came up for discussion when City Clerk Priscilla C. Daniel asked Barbara McGrew who was making her presentation of the contract to the council, “Are there any additional funds added to this? None of it adds up; none of it.”

Daniel then pointed out that totals for the project added up to $666,895 and that there was only $540,000 available for the project.

“I don’t have a clue where the other money is coming from,” Daniel added.

McGrew told the council they work with figures supplied by the city’s engineering firm, at first, but Guy later said they came from the Miss. Dept. of Transportation (MDOT).

Guy asked Daniel when did she “get this information.”

“This morning,” Daniel replied.

Watkins: "It wasn't a joke!"

“Were you aware of the differences at that time? Why didn’t you bring it to somebody’s attention?” said Guy.

“I did,” said Daniel.

“Whose attention did you bring it to,” Guy asked.

“I brought it to the city manager’s attention,” she replied.

Guy then asked Miller, “Why didn’t you bring that to us?”

“Because we were going to open it up for discussion and we couldn’t figure out from where the money would come from. Why these numbers come up here like this, you don’t understand it, and I don’t understand it either,” Miller replied.

“We have both said that it does not match. It is supposed to be $540,000.” Miller added.

Guy said the numbers came from Miss. Dept. of Transportation, “That’s right,” said Miller. “Is that correct, Miss Barbara?” asked Guy. “That’s correct,” replied McGrew. 

Guy: "We can't make a decision with these numbers. . ."

Guy said the figures should have been reconciled before it reached the council. “That did not happen,” he said. “So we certainly cannot make a decision based on these numbers we have here. . .We need to get with MDOT and see if they know what happened.”

There was then this aside then between Councilman Larry Watkins and Guy:

Guy said, “We can look at areas we can cut back, like in Larry’s district. We can cut all that out.”

Watkins shot back, “You said it!”

Guy replied, “No, that was just a joke.”

 Watkins replied, “No you said it; it wasn’t a joke.”

Added McGrew, “The numbers that I get for any project comes from the engineer that you hire. They give me the numbers and I present them to you. I think you need to ask the engineer why the numbers changed. And then let him explain, because he brought me this information.”

McGrew said she presented the numbers early enough that they should have been reconciled if caught. “This is the first I have heard of it. I would have been open for discussion if I had known. We need to let the engineer come before you and help determine why it’s different.”

Said Watkins, “Then we know we don’t have the money to do the project.”

Miller: "Let's get what we can get done for $540,000. . ."

Replied public works director Chad Frierson, “Well, I am not sure where those numbers come from. The numbers we use to generate the project in the budget come from the engineer. And why they changed to a $120,000 increase I am not sure.”

Said Guy, “What we don’t want to do is lose the dollars…”

Guy said that in discussions earlier with MDOT, state officials said that if Picayune does not use the money that MDOT will use it somewhere else. “If you do not use these dollars, the state is definitely in need of them for other projects,” Guy said MDOT told him.

Watkins motioned that the matter be tabled and Turnage seconded it. Guy then asked that the motion be voided because there was a danger of losing the funds if the council did not move quickly on the project. The motion and second, however, stood.

Said McGrew, “The reason it is brought to you tonight is the engineer really wanted approval at the last meeting, and he said it really had to be done.”

Miller suggested the project be tabled and that city officials get with the engineers and rework the numbers. “If we have to chop it back some, we have to chop it back some more,” he added. “Let’s get what we can get done for $540,000.”

“Councilman Guy is right, there is a timeframe here, They did state they could use it in other areas. So instead of delaying this, let’s vote to table it until we can find out, and then move forward with it, and once we get the mathematics…We are all aware it is $540,000. Let’s get the mathmatics in order here and move forward with this project. Let’s don’t lose a penny. . .Why the math has shown up here tonight, I don’t know. We’ve got $540,000; let’s get some streets paved, and be done with this,” said Miller.

A vote was then taken to table the project and that carried 4-2. Councilman Donald L. Parker and Guy voted no, and Bounds, Watkins, Turnage and Mitchell voted to table it.

Councilman Jerry Bounds said, “Mr. Mayor, can I have the floor for just a minute? I said I was not going to say anything like this my last meeting. I tell you what, this is what has happend to us. We have had stuff brought to us half-cocked and shabby and made us look like a bunch of fools up here. It’s a shame that we have to take up the last meeting and go through something like this.”

“It’s an embarrassment on this administration to go out like this on the last meeting. But it’s been like this for several years. The left foot doesn’t know what the right foot’s doing. Nothing,” he added.

(Developing; more to come) 

• Fire dept. personnel are on pins and needles, worrying about grass and woods fires that could endanger homes during the 4th of July holidays

PICAYUNE, Miss., Tuesday, June 30 — The City Council discussed the possibility of banning popping fireworks inside the city limits for the 4th of July holidays because of the hot dry weather that has hit the area. The council and the city’s fire officials are on pins and needles concerning the upcoming holidays because of the combustible conditions of lawns and wooded areas.

A yard that catches afire from fireworks could easily ignite a nearby home.

The council faced whether to ban fireworks after Fire Marshall Pat Weaver asked the council to ban the popular practice of exploding fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July if conditions remain the same and it does not rain. Weaver said that if it rains before the 4th, there should be no problem with fires, however.

Mayor Greg Mitchell said that most yards are nothing more than “dry hay fields” and that one spark from a firecracker could start a serious fire, threatening residential housing. There is currently a burning ban in the county, and residents in Picayune by law are prohibited from burning unless they obtain a burning permit from the fire dept.

Officials said anyone starting a fire by popping fireworks would fall under that ban and could be charged under the city’s fire ordinances.

The discussion went so far as to prompt a motion and a second to ban the popping of fireworks during the current hot and dry weather conditions, but the council did not vote on it.

All the council did was to tell the media to inform the public to use extreme caution in popping fireworks this July 4th because of the dry, combustible conditions of yards and wooded areas.

Fire Marshall Pat Weaver said some grass fires had already been started during city mowing operations just from sparks generated by the mower blades. He said the fire dept. is on alert about the problem during the holidays and should be able to handle any problems.

It’s legal to sell fireworks inside the city limits, but by law residents can explode fireworks only during the few days of the 4th of July and Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The rest of the time it is illegal to pop fireworks inside the city limits.

• (Developing; more to come)

• City Attorney tells council they would be “treading a fine legal line” in passing a low-rider pants ordinance here

PICAYUNE, Miss., Tuesday, June 30 — For the third straight council meeting, Councilman Leavern Guy attempted to make headway on getting a low-rider pants law adopted here.

After an in-depth discussion of the issue between City Attorney Nathan Farmer and the council, Guy asked Farmer to draft an ordinance and submit it to the State Attorney General’s office for review.

Guy tried three times to get a low-rider pants ordinance adopted. Has he run out of time on the issue?

But time may have run out for Guy on the issue. It was his last council meeting, and it remains to be seen whether the new council will take up the issue when they are sworn in on July 6.

The item was supposed to be on the agenda for today’s session for discussion and action, but it was not. Guy pointed out that failure in broaching the subject for a third time. City Manager Harvey Miller told Guy in the last council meeting that he would have the issue placed on the agenda and admitted the oversight to Guy.

If an item is not on the agenda, it can be discussed but no vote can be taken on it.

Farmer told the council that his research showed that the State Supreme Court had unheld a statute adopted in Corinth, Miss., outlining lewdness and showing body parts, but he told Guy and the council that drafting what he termed an ordinance would tread a fine line when dealing with the exposure of just someone’s underwear.

 He said the issue could not be addressed just by amending the city’s indecent exposure statute but would have to be handled in a finely  drawn legal ordinance.

Various governmental bodies throughout the U.S. have introduced laws governing the wearing of the pants in a “low-rider” style that shows portions of one’s underwear. It infuriates and embarrasses some people. The style originated in the prison population as a come-0n for sex and was picked up by stylists and youths in an attempt to be “cool” and nonconformist.

A law preventing the use of the style was actually introduced into the Louisiana State Legislature recently by an irate lawmaker from New Orleans, but has so far not been passed.

Farmer told council they would be treading a fine legal line by adopting a low-rider law.

Farmer pointed out that the problem would be that an ordinance would make a certain type of clothing style a criminal act, and that he thought it would definitely at some point be challenged.

Farmer added any ordinance would have to be “carefully circumscribed” to define “willful”  and “lewd”; it couldn’t just be accidental. “You would have to carefully define that in order to pass constitutional muster,” he added. ”It definitely would be subject to a challenge.” Whether any challenge to any ordinance adopted here would survive in a court challenge, Farmer told the council, “You are on the edge, right there.”

Also Farmer said anything that might be adopted would have to pass a review by the State Attorney General.

Guy asked Farmer to draft an ordinance and submit it to the Attorney General for review.

However, time might have run out for Guy on the issue. This was his last council meeting before the new council takes office on June 6, and it remains to be seen whether or not the new council will be interested in taking up the issue.

• Transparency, openness is always the best policy in government
• It keeps everyone honest and the public well-informed

We hope everyone who hits on this website will take the time to read all of Councilman Jerry Bounds’ interview about his 8 years on the council. At first when the subject of an interview was broached, we were leery, because from experience, we know that journalists can be used to grind axes and regurgitate sour grapes.

But Bounds interview was not that way. He was open, honest and forthright on his views and statements. We believe that with that interview citizens can understand a little bit more of what happened under the current council’s watch as regards mismanagement of finances, and also a little bit more about the council’s successes. After all Katrina was a major blow and they worked hard to get us through that disaster. Did they make mistakes? Yes, but we do believe they had the city’s best interests at heart. You might disagree with us on that, and that is your right.

We will agree with Bounds and the current council that some solid accomplishments were accomplished in the past 8 years. One needs only to look in the areas of the airport, the industrial park and the improvement of Friendship Park. Granted infrastructure, especially roads and streets, have suffered and are in need of repair desperately. Also, the current council’s promise was to upgrade the police and fire depts. and they have done that. We have excellent police and fire depts. for a city Picayune’s size.

What happened, however, is that the smoke from the fiscal debacle, the loss of millions of dollars in the utility dept., has covered all of the current council’s accomplishments with a dense fog that has obscured all the solid accomplishments they achieved.

We began this blog because we could not get any substantial, or what we felt like, was solid, accurate information on what was going on in city government, and when we began circulating, we realized that there was a disconnect between the council and the people, the people wanting to know what the hell was going on and the council, not all of them, but some wanting to hold the negatives close to their chest. That is politics, of course, and human nature at work.

But if 25 years in the journalistic profession of reporting on governing bodies has taught us anything, it is that being open, truthfull and hiding nothing is the best policy. If you don’t adequately inform the citizens, they will grow jaded and distrustful. That is what happened, and that generated an entirely new council that will be sworn in on July 6. Only one incumbent will return, Larry Watkins, in Precinct 1.

We congratulate the old council on their successes as their terms end on July 6, and we urge the new council as they take their seats to learn from that old council, too, that open government and disclosing as much information as is possible under the law to the citizens is the best thing to do. Transparency is the key to good government. It keeps everyone honest and the public informed. Because after all, it is we the citizens who will foot the bill and suffer the consequences if our elected officials don’t succeed.

We think Picayune’s greatest days are ahead of us. The city is strong economically. We have not been hit as hard as some communities by the recession, and there are still jobs available here for those who want to work. The influx of new residents after Katrina has boosted the economic outlook here, and the vibrant downtown district, with the great work of Picayune Main Street, remains a solid underpinning of economic success for the city. Citizens will really be proud when the revitalization of East Canal and other projects associated with it are finished. It will boost city sales taxes and encourage more people to shop at home.

We wish the new council good fortune and smooth sailing as they try to get a handle on city finances and growth here. It will be challenging and we are sure that the new councilmen will find out that running a city the size of Picayune is no easy management task. We have talked to all the new incoming council members, and they are upbeat and positive and have pledged themselves to a new openness here and dedicated themselves to making Picayune one of the best cities in Mississippi, and even the South. It can be done if we work together and cooperate.

One last point: We can’t help but add that if the new council is ever able to, it will help with acquiring and preserving the Hermitage, and also commissioning a study on how we can develop the two Boleys that run through our city into recreational attractions. We think that once established the two projects would eventually pay for themselves many times over.

• He explains what he knew about shortages in utility dept.
• Says he will bring up sale of city’s excess land again in Tuesday council meeting

PICAYUNE, Miss., Sunday, June 28 — Precinct 5 Republican Councilman Jerry Bounds, who will be leaving office on July 6 when the new council is sworn in, has given a candid interview to At-Large. Bounds says he believes citizens are not aware of the accomplishments the current council achieved during his tenure, but also admits that financial mismanagement took all the headlines, and perhaps will determine how this current council will be remembered in the city’s history.

Bounds is proud of accomplishments and will go out with "head held high."

But Bounds said he is proud of what he accomplished and leaves the council “with my head held high.”

Bounds decided to not seek re-election and fellow Republican Wayne Gouguet won his seat in a First Primary landslide against 3 opponents. Bounds said the problems at city hall had no influence on his decision not to seek re-election.

He said he decided against running so he could spend more time with his wife and kids. “That is the reason; the job can consume all your time,” he said. He added that he will take off a year and might consider running again after a rest.

Currently, Bounds works as a support services director with the Picayune school system. Bounds is the son of the late Kenny Bounds, who served as Picayune’s police chief.

At-Large: How did you get interested in politics and what did you first run on?

Bounds: I ran on three things in 2001, public safety, economic development and recreation. The way I look at it is that our police dept. is now state and nationally accredited and is as good a dept. for a city our size in the nation. The fire dept. is one of the best in the state. We for the first time in 20 years are building a new fire station behind Shony’s near the interstate. That will help reduce insurance rates for businesses and residential properties out in that area of the city. It will also help the airport. It’s centrally located and in a great area where we put it.

We were really involved in the industrial park. When I assumed office the industrial park had one full-time job and two part-time jobs associated with it. Today, 8 years later, there is over 15 companies with over 100 good-paying jobs. That is a great success story. AGT just built a big building and moved in. They are advertising every week in the paper, and are hiring.

At-Large: How did you all do this? Did you all do anything specific as the council?

Bounds: We were pro-active in going out and searching for companies. We hired a new economic development coordinator (Glad Woods) and that person went out and sought specific type industries who were renting and wanted to locate to a permanent location where they would have their own building and land. We did this through Partners for Pearl River Co. economic development organization. A lot of the owners of these companies moved to Picayune, too.

Bounds: “We acquired the old Standar Container building and sold it to Farmer’s Fresh Produce out of New Orleans. The money we received from the sell of that building is supposed to retire the debt for the new city hall facilities we purchased from Arizona Chemicals. There was 240 acres that went along with the Arizona Chemical purchase, and there are about 24 acres right along Beech Street that is prime property. Our intent was to sell that prime property. We have not started the process on selling that land, and for two years I have been trying to get them (the council) to put it up and sell it. Through that sell we could probably raise enough money to retire the debt on the Arizona Chemical complex.

At-Large: We remember you brought this up at a recent session, the sell of the land, but nothing was done. Why can’t you get something moving on that?

Bounds: Well, the form of government we have is the city manager type of government and it takes four votes to make a decision. We have already voted to sell the land; it is in the minutes. Let me explain, we voted to get the appraisals done, the first step in selling the land. By law you have to have three appraisals. So far no appraisals have been done. I don’t know why the appraisals have not been done so far. I am going to ask again on Tuesday night about the appraisals. I want an answer why we have not received an appraisal on this property.

At-Large: Is somebody blocking it?

Bounds: I don’t know. It seems like it.

At-Large: Getting back to economic growth. There have been some who have said Picayune needs to annex additional surrounding communities. What are your thoughts on that?

Bounds: The city now has a comprehensive plan, and to grow orderly you have to have one. I know a lot of people don’t like to hear about annexation, but the city needs to annex. That’s part of the comprehensive plan. It will show the areas that need to be annexed for the future growth of the city.

At-Large: What other areas in economic development do you point to?

Bounds: The airport. That is sort of our high-tech industrial park. We have added T-hangers, which we rent to generate revenue. We have a fixed-based operator out there now, Phillips. When we took office we had to replace the fuel farm. It did not meet the specs required by law. It’s a profitable fuel farm now. And we also located money to build an up-to-date, high-tech terminal. We have a company El Paso Gas who is out there, and I understand they plan to move their entire operation to Picayune. That was a result of working through Partners for Pearl River Co. There’s about 8 employes with that company right now . If they move everybody here that would give us about 50 employes based in Picayune.

At-Large: OK, what about recreation?

Bounds: There was a 1 percent sales tax put in place on restaurants and motels in 1997 by the State Legislature for economic development and recreation. Also Huey Stockstill donated some land to us behind Friendship Park, which allowed us to expand. That allowed us to install additional soccer fields and baseball fields and new parking. We also got grants from Chevron to help purchase park maintenance equipment. We received money from FEMA after Katrina hit. We were in the middle of expanding the park when Katrina hit. We received $1 million from Katrina to install new concrete polls and repair storm damage at the park. Since I have been on the council we have pumped a little over $5 million into Friendship Park. We have tennis courts, soccer, football and baseball fields; and right now I am trying to generate interests by civic groups and churches for upgrading the Pennies for Your Park, which is located down there. Rev. Allen Hickman raised the funds for that back in 1998, and now we need to upgrade it and build it bigger and better. I am really about the kids; it’s all about the kids. They need the recreational opportunities, and we need to provide it for them. No matter what people say about me, they can’t say that I haven’t tried to help our young people. That has always been one of my top priorities.

At-Large: OK, you and the other council members did accomplish a lot in these areas, so why was the attitude toward the council so negative at the end? Was it just the deficits in the city budget, or was it other things? Why couldn’t you all get the story of the good things you were doing? Why did just the negative budget story dominate?

Bounds: I am not placing blame on anyone. When you are the elected official you get the blame for anything that happens on your watch. And I can take that. I will admit that we did not get the word out properly and adequately about what was going on. We did need a PR person who was qualified to help in that area. One thing the public must realize, and the new council members will find this out, too, is that under our form of government, a councilman is really weak and although you see changes that need to be made you have to convince three other members to go along with you to get something done. You have to work through the city manager; he hires and fires. A lot of people think we have the same form of government as the board of supervisors. We don’t. Each supervisor has personnel he can call and that person can do that job that day. It doesn’t work that way in city government here.

At-Large: What about the shortage in the utility dept. What happened?

Bounds: What I know about that is this. The city clerk (not the current one) explained to me that the company from which we buy our natural gas went from $11 to $14 a cubic sq. ft. on selling us natural gas. All we see is a onetime payment for the year on what it costs to buy gas and store it. We did not see the per sq. ft. price; we only saw a total. For two years it was not brought to the mayor and council’s attention that gas had gone up and it was not adjusted for two years. So there can be a lot of losses, and there was a lot of losses. Until Ed Pinero came on as city manager I did not know about this. I was not made aware of it. That was in ’06 and it went back two years. If you go to a quick stop and their gas goes up, they immediately go out there and change it. But that didn’t happen with the city. I call a factor in the gas dept.: going two years without adjusting the costs to consumers. Some say you receive an audit every year, but you are not told everything, you are not shown everything. Here is what I think happened: going two years without adjusting the rates, the large number of citizens who failed to pay their gas bills and were not turned off; you can go back on the records and see there are a lot of citizens who did not pay and were not turned off; then there was a mandate from the Public Service Commission to upgrade Westchester subdivision; that cost $300,000 that came right out of the utility dept. One government inspector said he had seen whiskey stills in better shape than the Weschester system. We had to do it; there was no other alternative. They said they were going to help us financially but so far they haven’t.

Also we did a lot of things that the state requested us to do after Katrina. We housed 100 families with the Navy in a trailer park here, ran them gas services. They were displaced from Bay St. Louis and the coast and were leaving the area. That put a strain on city finances, too. We did a lot that nobody knows about that cost us a lot of money. The city took the burden of running all the services to them down Patch Road. We got bashed for a lot. We struggled through losing a lot of city clerks and city managers; yes, we weren’t perfect.

At-Large: Well, you went through all these city clerks and city managers over 8 years. What was the problem?

Bounds: I don’t know. You would have to ask each one ‘em. I know that in 06 after one quit I began looking around, and I knew Pinero, who at that time was working in Ocean Springs. I begged him to apply for the job and he did and he landed it. I know him; grew up with him; he’s a good and smart guy, and he will make a good mayor. He knows the system and knows what to do. Why did he eventually quit?; I don’t know, but I know that I made every effort to help get a qualified person in that position, and I have no regrets. I did the best I could with what I had to work with. Kay Johnson, now city manager at Pascagoula, was another good one we had. She helped us acquire funding for the train depot. You will have to ask them why they quit.

At-Large: Can you explain to us what went wrong with reading the meters?

We0 went with a company, Meter Readers Specialists; I questioned whether we could get an outside contractor to come in and do the job we were supposed to be doing and were supposed to save us money. We have over 7,000 meters in Picayune, and they are going to come in here and read them for so much a meter. The contract was signed, and they started reading meters, at least we thought they were reading meters, but what they were doing was estimating the useage. They were doing no different than what was being done by the city employees. We were just not reading the meters properly. You remember Leonard Bond?; he used to read meters. He would read the entire city in four days and on Friday do his repairs. He would really be a good guy to bring back as a consultant. He knows the system; but our city has not rehabbed the meters in many years. After about 2 years we saw no changes; people were still getting overcharged, undercharged and not charged at all. There was no true reading of the meters. If you go two, three years without reading meters consistently, you are going to lose money. You can’t average these bills out. You have to go and read the meters. I asked, How does Miss. Power and other utilities read their meters?; they outsource it, but they have quality control. They go behind them and make sure they are reading the meters accurately. We did not do that. I made three motions to get out of that contract and finally received a second on the third motion. And we were able to get out of the contract. If you see this going on sometimes you can’t do anything about it; you can fire the city manager but you have to get three other persons to go along with you to do that. My own personal water meter had not been read in years. It’s being read now. When we got out of this contract we knew we had some serious problems in the utility dept. We knew we had to make some changes, correct a lot of things and make them be more accountable. It’s not like we weren’t doing anything about it. As soon as we found out about it, we began work on correcting it.

But the sad part of the city manager form of government is that you are dependent on the city clerk and city manager for the proper reports, and if you don’t get them, you don’t get the information you need, and you are in the dark about what to do. The problems just didn’t start; and the solutions just didn’t start; as soon as we (the council) found out about it we started working on correcting the problem. It was not like we weren’t doing anything; but the public did not understand that we were working like crazy to get a handle on the problem, and I think we eventually did.

There are so many good things that happened during my watch; but they take just one bad thing and hit us with it. But I understand that we have to take the hits, and I understand that if my gas bill is not right, I have every right to complain about it and demand something be done. When things like that happen, the citizens get in an uproar about it, and I don’t blame them. I would be in an uproar , too, because you want answers.

On Thursday in Jackson Bounds was awarded a special services award by Miss. Main Street for his work in recreation and economic development. Right is Chuck Uelchey, CEO of Miss. Power Co. and MMS president, who presented Bounds the award. Bounds was nominated by the Picayune Main Street Assoc.

On other topics, Bounds said:

On cooperation between supervisors and council: “We began that when we first took office in 2001, and we started getting together with the board of supervisors and the county administrator; we wanted to have a unified county. For the first time ever, we met with the supervisors and Poplarville city officials, and we invited the Chambers and Main Street and Partners for Pearl River Co. We went to D.C. in 2002, and I remember when Trent Lott walked in to meet with all of us he said, ‘I have never seen this many entities working together and coming up here to talk to us, and it’s a great thing.’ We had already started to work since 2002 on bringing the county together and working together to get things for Picayune and Pearl River Co.”

He added, “I am walking out with my head held high, because I know what was done overall and what we accomplished while I was here. Yes, we did have problems, but we solved them or were on our way to solving them. We had 9/11, Katrina, two tropical storms and a major tornado–all on our watch. You can’t plan or budget for those happenings. I know people will say that I am just making excuses, but those things hit us hard and set us back. After Katrina alone we paid $1 million out of the general fund just to clean up the city.”

“We had good intentions of being good stewards with the city, and we did what we thought was best in these emergency situations,” he said. “Overall, I am proud of my accomplishments while serving the people of Picayune, and our accomplishments far outweigh any negatives.”

Bounds also pointed to the downtown $2.1 million revitalization of the East Canal Street section, that will see East Canal paved and reburbished from Hwy. 11 out to the Hwy. 43-East Canal intersection at Bill’s Quick Stop. A Gateway entrance will be installed there, attracting traffic into downtown Picayune. In addition, additional upgrading of area parks and beautification of recessed areas will be accomplished during the project which is supposed to get underway shortly.

The project is expected to help generate more sales tax revenue and help the city’s overall economy, during and after construction.

The funding for the project was discovered by the Picayune Main Street organization during a state seminar on such grants held in Jackson.

PICAYUNE, Miss., Thursday, June 25 — City officials yesterday released the following agenda for the Tuesday, June 30, 6 p.m. recessed meeting. The meeting will be held in city hall council chambers at 815 North Beech Street. The agenda follows:

  NOTICE OF AGENDA

CITY COUNCIL – SPECIAL RECESSED MEETING

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009 6:00 P.M.

FORMER ARIZONA CHEMICAL BUILDING, 815 NORTH BEECH STREET

1.                  WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER -Mayor Greg Mitchell

2.                  INVOCATION 

3.                  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4.                  CONSENT AGENDA

                        1.         Consider request to approve Minutes of the City of Picayune                                               meeting held June 16, 2009.

                                    Action Requested: Approve minutes as presented.   

                        2.         Consider request to acknowledge receipt of monthly Public                                                             Records Request Report of the month of May 2009.

                                    Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.

5.         OLD BUSINESS

6.         NEW BUSINESS

A.                CITY MANAGER

                        1.         Consider request to accept donation of $1,000.00 from Wal-Mart                                        Stores to be used at Friendship Park.

                                    Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.

B.                 FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

            1.         Consider request to approve Budget Amendment No.4.

                        Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.   

                        2.         Consider request to amend current Holiday Pay policy to specify                                        that employee be paid for time worked on ‘actual’ holiday.

                                    Action Requested: Approve request as presented.

C.                 GRANT ADMINISTRATION

                        1.         Consider Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) Form                          LPA-001 approved funding worksheet for the ARRA Maintenance                                        Overlay Project as requested by MDOT.

                                    Action Requested: Authorize Mayor to sign said form and related                                       project development forms.

                        2.         Consider Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) Form                          LPA-001 approved funding worksheet for the STP funds as                                        requested by MDOT.

                                    Action Requested: Authorize Mayor to sign said form and related                                       project development forms.

                        3.         Consider Pay Estimate Number 2 for Engineering Services on                                             Phase II of Memorial Boulevard Project in the amount of                                                     $68,992.00.

                                    Action Requested: Approve Estimated # 2 as requested and                                                authorize payment of accompanying invoices.

D.                PLANNING AND ZONING

E.                 CODE ENFORCEMENT

F.                  PUBLIC WORKS

G.                POLICE DEPARTMENT

H.                FIRE DEPARTMENT

                        1.         Consider request to authorize travel for Firefighters Rod Storrs,                                          Ricky Saul and Billy Schaff to attend Prevention Response to                                             Suicide Bombing Incident training in Deming, New Mexico July                                              13-17, 2009.

                                    Action Requested: Approve travel as requested.

                        2.         Consider request to accept grant funding check from Wal-Mart for                                                 the purpose of purchasing fire safety materials for senior citizens                                         and children.

                                    Action Requested: Accept grant funding check from Wal-Mart.

                        3.         Consider request to authorize travel for Fire Marshal Pat Weaver to                                     Ukiah, CA for the purpose of attending Lifeguard “Public Safety                                        Diver” training. This course will enable Mr. Weaver to train and                                            certify fire department public safety divers.

                                    Action Requested: Authorize travel as requested.

                        4.         Consider request to accept three (3) uninhabitable cottages from                                          MEMA for the purpose of using the cottages for training by fire                                          department personnel and law enforcement.

                                    Action Requested: Accept cottages as requested.

I.                   AIRPORT

                        1.         Consider T-Hangar Lease Agreement by and between City of                                             Picayune and Gary Behrens

                                    Action Requested: Approve request as submitted and authorize                                           Mayor to sign.

10.       MISCELLANEOUS COUNCILMEMBERS’ BUSINESS

11.       CITIZENS CONCERNS

12.       EXECUTIVE SESSION

            1.         Possible litigation-Moon Meadows

            2.         Contractual Matter-Centraplex

13.       ADJOURN

_______________________________                      _____________________________

Harvey Miller, Interim City Manager                                     Date

*Consent Agenda – All matters listed under Item 4, Consent Agenda, are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion.  There will not be separate discussion of these items.  If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered separately.

Note Regarding Citizen Comments – All citizens are encouraged to attend and participate in meetings of the City Council.  If you wish to address the Council, please provide your name and address for the record and limit your comments to three (3) minutes.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Americans with Disabilities Act – In compliance with the American’s with Disabilities Act, the city of Picayune will provide special assistance to disabled citizens upon request.  All meeting rooms are accessible to the disabled.  Please notify the City Manager’s Office (798-9770) at least 24 hours prior to the meeting of any other special assistance that may be needed.  This advance notice will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting.