Board of Alderman - Regular Meeting

No problem. I would

[snorts]

Good evening everyone and happy new year. I call this meeting of the Horn Lake mayor and board of alderman to order this January the 6, 2025 at 6 pm at Horn Lake City Hall. We have a court present tonight so we can proceed with our agenda. Uh first we have the uh invocation by alderman bless and we have the pledge of allegiance by alderman McKenna. Everybody bow you with me please. Dear heavenly father, thank you for the city of Horn Lake and thank you for all the people that work here and keep them safe and be with everybody that's sick that's got all this old flu going around and uh protect everybody and help them get well and if you will lay your hands on our city and protect us. Uh we need it because there's a lot of crazy people out there that don't know you. And uh in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

[clears throat] Amen.

I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [snorts] All right. Now, we'll now proceed with the roll call by Miss Carter. Alderman McKenna here. Alderman Bledo here. Alderwoman Armstrong here. Alderman Smith here. Alderwoman Johnson here. Alderman Langston. Alderman Bosik

here. All are here. We can proceed. All right. Um I entertain a motion to accept the municipal docket. There we also do for January 6, 2026. All right. We have a motion by alderman Langston. Do we have a second? Second that mayor. We have a second ball. Do we have any discussion? Roll call, please. Miss Carter. Alderman McKenna.

Hi. Alderman Bledsoe. Hi. [clears throat] Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Smith. I. Alderwoman Johnson. I. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderman Bostic. I. Motion passes unanimously. All right. I entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. Mayor. All right. All been busted like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda on items A through L. All right. We have a motion to approve the consent agenda items A through L. Have a second. Second.

Second. Alman Langston. All right. Any discussion? I would like if I can to move uh section article C and D to new business. All right. Would you like to make a motion?

[clears throat]

All right, we'll proceed. All right,

mayor. The item C and D on the agenda, the ordinances need to be voted on separately so that they can weigh the reading of the ordinances. With that explanation, I'll amend my motion. All right. Second. Second. All right. It's been amended. Any more discussion? All right. Roll call, please. Alderman Bik. Hi. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderwoman Johnson. I. Alderman Smith. Hi. Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Bledsoe. Hi. Alderman McKenna. I. [snorts]

Motion passed unanimous unanimously. All right. I entertain a motion to approve the claims docket. Mayor Alman Johnson.

I move that we accept the claims docket. General fund 1,161,875.34. Library fund 13,7842. Economic development fund $1,6822. utility fund $273,64510 for a total docket of 1,450,9838.

All right. Do we have a second? Second. Alum McKenna on the second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Garden. Alderman McKenna. Hi. Alderman Bledsoe. Hi. Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Smith. I. Alderwoman Johnson. I. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderman Bostic.

Nay. Motion [clears throat] passes 6 to one. All right. We'll move on. Tonight we have a special presentation uh um by end of the year award by our police chief uh Miss Nikki Pudding. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, board. So, um, bragging on my staff is certainly my favorite thing to do, so I apologize to you all if I get long-winded, but I'll do best I can. Um, so this year we're do or tonight we're doing our end of the year awards and uh the employee of the year will be first up and uh typically when we do interviews at the police department kind of our true north or where we always find ourselves going back to Chief Hoyer uh Major Swan and I is always we kind of the sentence that we always end up going back to is is hire the character train the skilled and uh where we where we land on that is that we can teach the duties of a dispatcher, police officer. It's the intangibles that we're looking for. And I feel like we do a really good job with that. It's it's the our staff is it's the dependability, the positive attitudes, team players, and things that make someone a good co-orker that just can't be taught. And that's what we're looking for in our people. And uh I'm certainly glad to say that I know that we hit that mark. And so it was no surprise when we started getting our nominations from the captains and the words that that were coming to us to describe who their nominees were was dedication, integrity, strong interpersonal relationships, leads by example, continuously goes out of their way to help and so on and so forth. So sort of that that kind of again the intangibles and uh we could go on and on about the numbers and and you know the most arrest or you know things like that

but that's at the end of the day if we're not making good people then you know what are we really doing and that's that's I think we're certainly hitting the mark on that. Um, so I'm happy to say that we we argued back and forth and it was a struggle to really narrow down and pinpoint who we were going to give these awards to. And that that makes me very proud. That's a good problem to have. But um, so this year the civilian employee of the year is Daffy Darby. [applause] Um, so Daffy, uh, anytime you you mention a dispatcher, Dninnesota County, anything like that, Daffy is typically who comes up. So, it was not easy for me when October 2024, I was hit with, uh, hey, we're going to need somebody very reliable in our reception office. And that position, it it really did not dawn on me until we had hit some rough times just how much uh I'm I'm ashamed to admit this, but the amount of confidentiality and just the uh what a what a super task that is. And uh really I I'm not too uh proud to say that we we begged Daffy to do that and without hesitation, she definitely took it and she she pretty much sets the tone for everything beyond our reception office that front those front doors when you walk through that lobby. Uh whatever happens beyond there, Daffy sets the tone for it. And you know the the compassion that she has to show to people, be it a victim, bad guy, no matter what it is, she has to treat them a certain way. And you know, we we never get any complaints on that. Daffy definitely hits the hits the mark on that. So, we greatly appreciate it, Daffy. And Daffy's award reads, "Daffy Darby is highly professional and dependable, consistently demonstrating courtesy and efficiency in the fast-paced world of law enforcement. She serves as a critical first point of

contact with strong attention to detail, accuracy, confidentiality, and public service. Daffy is reliable, always filling in where needed without complaint or hesitation, and sets the tone for the department through professionalism, discretion, and attentiveness. Daffy, thank you so much. [applause] Our sworn employee of the year, Bailey, Detective Cedric Bailey. Uh he so he just hit his fiveyear mark and yesterday actually and uh Detective Bailey went to criminal investigations in October of 2024 and you know I don't I really don't know where to begin with with Detective Bailey. So he uh Bailey hit a rough patch this year and you would never know it because his attitude speaks volumes for who he is. uh I mean his work ethic, there's just no there's no shake in this guy and uh you know he it's his loyalty, his his dedication to his division and just the the drive to be a sponge and get better and know his job so well and and the leadership role that he's taken back there and it's just uh that's a that's a very special group that works in criminal investigations and I I um greatly appreciate everything that Detective Bailey does. So, his award reads, "Detective Cedric Bailey is known for his unwavering dedication, exceptional reliability, and a consistently positive professional attitude. He has always displayed a strong work ethic and an attitude that inspires trust and teamwork. Detective Bailey is driven by duty, never cuts cers, and carries a positive attitude even when the job gets heavy. He has a quiet optimism that can be seen in his smile and humble demeanor. Detective Bailey never seeks praise and is always focused

on doing the right job. Thank you, Bailey. [applause]

[applause]

So, we have two more awards that we really didn't make known for some pretty obvious reasons, but uh Chief Oyer and I had decided that we were going to do the Distinguished Service Award. And I could go on for a long time about these awards, but the distinguished service award in the police department is awarded for meritorious service to sworn personnel who display a high level of initiative and dedication to duty in carrying out department programs and objectives. It may be bestowed for outstanding accomplishments which result in improved operation, substantial savings in manpower or operational cost or where the member has gone far beyond the requirement of their normal assignment to contribute to a more efficient police service. So, Major Swan and Captain Grayson have uh again, I don't know where to begin with them either because this was supposed to be a big thank you for everything they have done with the body camera project, but if I'm being honest, there's not a task that those two don't take care of. And it's pretty much been wrapped up into the body camera project because we began conversation about that and realized that we just can't uh kick that can down the road any further towards the end of 2024. And when conversation started about it, Major took it and ran with it. He met with the vendors, met with other departments, and really found what was going to be best for us without it being to uh [clears throat] he introduced that to a bunch of police officers. That's a tough thing. So, uh we all knew that we needed it for transparency, but to introduce it to the alpha personalities, that is law enforcement, that's tough. And Major made sure it happened. So from there, we uh rolled them out first of 2025 and quickly realized that that was

going to be a big headache for someone to absolutely own from there on. And uh Captain Grayson picked it up and it's kind of a running joke with us, but uh we can't do without him now because he a lot of job security there because he manages everything to do with it. um between him and Major, they both absolutely take care of that program. He's implemented training based on uh some safety concerns that we may have that at the end of the day is going to make everybody the give them the opportunity to go home. But um again, for the sake of transparency, the public records request redactions and maintaining the integrity of the videos. it had to um had to go to someone and Captain Grayson owned it, took it on and that is with both of them still constantly doing the job that they do. Uh Major spent the entire year in leadership training and was also uh his class leader. So when you talk about a leader amongst leaders, it doesn't get much better than that. And um on top of that, just the every other job that is on both of their plates between Captain Grace and also dealing with getting us below five openings at the police department and just the integration that both of them have with everyone that works at the police department. So again, this is kind of wrapped up as a huge thank you for the body camera project, but we can't thank you both enough for everything that you do with making this department successful. So, thank you both. [applause] [applause]

Thank you, sir. Thank you board and mayor for your time and your support for us also this year in 2025. Um and I'll go ahead and thank you going forward for y'all support of the police department. But thank you all to my staff. If there was an award to give to every single one of you, I would. I know uh you humble me daily and I it is an absolute pleasure of mine to get to really just walk the halls with you. Y'all are outstanding people and I that that doesn't um I don't forget that every day at the end of the day I thank the good Lord for you. So thank you. [snorts] [applause] [applause] [applause] We would like to thank Chief Pulling and also give Chief Pulling and Deputy Chief Hoy a hand also. [applause]

All right.

All right. We want to ask all if family members you can meet in the lobby, please. Thank you all. Thank you all so much. All right, we're going to move on with our meeting. We have nothing for planning. Uh but we do have two items that's been moved from the consent agenda to new business. Item C and D. Uh where we have two ordinance changes which require us also to uh uh have a reading or wave uh the reading of those ordinance that's being changed. Um do we have a motion to wave the reading of the ordinance?

I'll make that motion, mayor. All right, we have a motion. Can we do both at the same time? Okay, we're going to do both at the same time. CND, uh, we have a motion by Alman Bostic. We have a second by Honor Bless. Any discussion? All right, no discussion. Roll call, please. Alderman McKenna, I. Alderman Bledo, I. Alderwoman Armstrong, I. Alderman Smith, I. Alderwoman Johnson, I. Alderman Langston. Hi, Alderman Bostic. Hi.

Motion passes unanimously. Now, we're going to have a vote to pass those motions uh to approve uh those ordinance. Ordinance number 2510 316 and ordinance number 2510 317. Do we have a motion? Mayor, do it. [clears throat] Can I do them both together then? Have you done? Do both together. Yes.

Yeah. I'll make a motion to approve Ordinance 2510-316 regarding the grading surfacing and maintenance and also ordinance 2510 317 amending the rental property licensing act. Okay, we have a motion by alderman uh Bostic. Do we have a second? Second by alderman McKenna. Any discussion? All right. Roll call, please. Alderman Bostic. Hi. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderwoman Johnson. Hi. Alderman Smith. Hi.

Alderman Armstrong. Alderwoman Armstrong. I'm sorry. Hi. Alderman Bledo. Hi. Alderman McKenna.

Motion passes unanimously. All right. Uh moving on. We don't have any citizen citizen remarks tonight. Uh so we're going to move on to mayor and automan correspondents. I just want to wish everyone a happy new year and thank you so much our emergency responses many you just saw many of them here tonight. Uh fire police and also our telecommunicators for their hard work during the holidays and also public works those our on call workers. We're just so thankful to you all. Um while many of us get to enjoy the holidays off you all still here uh serving the city. So thank you all for all you do uh in keeping our city safe. I want to thank this board for six months and uh we've been we've been baptized by fire [laughter] but we had a wonderful six months and we just thank them for the many things I will probably go over the next uh meeting some of the things that we have accomplished. I want to also [clears throat] uh senate uh uh shout out to the senators, our senators that was just uh sworn in on today. We I spent the morning in Jackson uh Senator Ism, Senator Jackson, and all those uh who'll be serving from the state capital. So, uh we just want to make sure they know that Horn Lake support them. Uh and we're looking forward to working with all the senators and uh even the house those that are in office. So, we just thank them and Soul County was definitely in the house on today in Jackson. So, thank you all uh everyone here for your service throughout 2025 and we're looking forward to having a awesome 2026 and working together cuz I truly believe it's we're one horn lake. Amen. All right. Um Chief Puler.

Yes, sir. Mayor, we u just opened up our next citizens academy class. So, I did want to put out that out there that it will begin February 12th and go through April 7th. And we it's posted to our Facebook page, but you can get applications in the police lobby also. So, it's capped at 12 and so far we've got about five lined up for it. So, as soon as you can, if anyone wants to attend, just swing by or check our Facebook page for those applications. And you normally [clears throat] have one board member on on on it right now, right? So, that's a challenge to figure out which board member going to jump in this time. I've already given out one board application. So, all right.

All right. All right. I thought one of them was gonna jump on in today. All right. All right. Belinda, any any questions for Chief Pulling? All right, Belinda. Any questions for Belinda? Move from the board. All right, Wayne. You've been busy, Wayne. Have you been busy? Thank you so much. Dwayne did go out to uh W let me make sure u I think it was uh what morning Wildman Armstrong did you call me from Walmart

neighborhood Walmart uh so they had a lot of money Monday they had a lot of tape pallet of tape masking tape uh that they was going to throw away uh they asked the city that we wanted and uh uh we didn't need all that tape but uh we know our schools need them so I want to thank you and public works for going to each school and making sure all of them had some tape. So, one thing I know in Horn Lake, no parent will have to buy tape uh in a new school year when they come up. [laughter] So, thank you so much, Wayne. They really appreciate it. And thank you, Alder Woman Armstrong, for making sure we we got to jump on that tape. Thank you so much. All right. Um I need a new chair so I don't have to do this. Chief Lynville,

my name hasn't changed. I don't have anything. Uh, thank you, Chief. Great question. I can't believe that. Thank you, Chief. Drew. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, board. I don't have anything tonight, sir. Thank you, Drew. Anybody have anything for Chief Lynville and Drew? Oh, Wayne. All right. Moving on. Uh, Vince, thank you, Mayor Boy. I do not have anything at this time, Mayor. All right. And we looking forward to starting the street program soon again. Amen. Yes, sir. Um, matter of fact, um, we do we will need some action on that, though. Uh, and that probably can get that done next week after we discuss that. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All right, go ahead.

This be a good time to make a motion to approve our agreement with no shaper. Perfect time. Yes. Yes. Yes, sir. I believe all y'all received a copy of the new contract with no shaper. I'd like to make a motion to approve that for one more year and many years to come. I know Ben, you've done a great job for this city for a number of years. I know you're working your way towards that retirement and you got a good guy sitting out here that's going to take a spot. So, looking forward to that. Just want to make sure that motion got made.

All right, got a motion. We have a second by Alderman Peso. Any discussion? All right, roll call, please. Alderman McKenna. Alderman Bledsoe. Definitely. Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Smith. I. Alderwoman Johnson. I. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderman Bostic. I. Motion been approved. Thank you, Mr. M. Even though you're about to retire soon, we we appreciate all you have done so far.

And thank you, mayor. I I guess uh I would like to just say that as I step into retirement, I I certainly appreciate the opportunity we've had here with Horn Lake. It's been a It's been a real honor to serve this board and the previous boards also, but uh me uh I always uh be here for Horn Lake if needed because uh I just feel like that you guys have got your heart in the right place as far as serving the city, serving the community and and to me that means a lot. It motivates me and it motivates Neil Schaefer to want to help even more because we know we know the heart that you're serving from. So, thank you guys for having us as your city engineer and uh I definitely look forward to working with each and every one of you especially like we've worked with all your department heads. We try to be extension of the of your department heads and and work with them and and they've been great to work with very professional and supported us in every way. So, um it's just we are grateful again for for that opportunity and and the support that we receive and uh I would just like to say that you know I sit here every every beaten and hear you guys pray and uh to me that's that's where it that's where we we all need to be [clears throat] uh directing our focus and I think with you guys continue in that direction following him uh I I pray that he will bless to see Michael.

Thank you, Mr. Vince. Thank you so much. Give Mr. Vince a hand for his service here. And at this time right now, he been walking around with this protege for a while now. Uh you know, this guy just hanging around his coach here. Philip Oliver, stand up for a minute. He's going to stand up for a minute. Give him a hand right quick. [applause] I look forward to calling Philip every day. I'm going to bug him more than I bug you eventually. [laughter]

All right, Alexis, you have anything? Just report that we had 11 cats transport.

Awesome. Awesome. Thank you, Mr. Nexus, for all you doing. my hard work of you and your staff, Andrew. Oh, oh, all um bless uh I think I heard on the news you going to be on television in the morning at 9:00 on channel 3. Yes,

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We looking forward to watching you. We have going to meet up in the conference room at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. All right. Anybody else have anything for Alexis? All right. Andrew. No, sir. I got nothing tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. Thank you. And your staff. All right. Mayor and uh correspondent, Alderman Bast. All right. All [clears throat] right. Langston, all that rattling you've been doing. You don't have no energy tonight. All right. Alderman Johnson. New Year's blessings to everyone. All right. Alderman Smith.

No. Alderman Autooman Armstrong. All right. Alderman Bless. Uh, everybody happy new year and remember, keep God in your heart and and everything will work out. Alderman McKenna push. Thank you. Thank you all my alderman board. Uh also our city attorney.

Um good evening everyone. I don't have anything tonight mayor. I don't know if there are any questions for me. Any questions for our city attorney? All right. Um, let's go ahead. Uh, do we have a motion to go into closed determination?

Alman McKenna. We have a motion by Alderman McKenna. We have a second. Second by Alderman Smith. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Miss Carter. Alderman McKenna. Alderman Bledo. Hi. Alderwoman Armstrong. Hi. Alderman Smith. Hi. Alderwoman Johnson. Hi. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderman Bast. I. Motion passes unanimously. We are now close termination.

[clears throat]

You should We I think I think All right. [clears throat] All right. Can I get a motion to come out to close the termination?

Al McKenna. We have a motion by McKenna. We have a second. Mayor Armstrong. Second. All right. Any discussion? Roll call, please. M card. Alderman Bosik. Alderman Langston. Hi. Alderwoman Johnson. I. Alderman Smith. I. Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Bledsoe. Hi. Alderwoman. Alderman McKenna.

I. Motion passes five uh six and one absent. All right. Can I get a motion to go into executive session? Mayor. All right. Alder McKenna make the motion to uh move to executive session. All right. All motion by Alder McKenna. Do I have a second? Second. [snorts] Second by Alderman Smith. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Miss Carter. Alderman [snorts] McKenna. I. Alderman Bledsoe. Hi. Alderwoman Armstrong. I. Alderman Smith. Hi. Alderwoman Johnson. I alderman Langston. Hi,

Alderman Bobic. Motion PL passes six to one being absent. All right. Now executive session.