Mayor and Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

Everyone, I'm not calling this meeting to order. Please stand with us. We'll be led in prayer by Alderman Gallagher. Please remain standing after that for the pledge of allegiance that will be led by Alderman William Drum. Will you help us, Father?

Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight with heavy hearts. Lord, we um know that there's many innocent people being killed out in the um war that's going on. Lord Jesus, I just pray that you would be with those people that are hurting. Lord, be with their families. And Lord, we uh we pray that you would uh use this to your glory in some way. Lord, I thank you for uh leading the city of South Haven, Lord, and thank you for keeping your hand over us. And Lord, we just pray that you'll continue to do that. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we get going our uh agenda tonight, I do want to uh honor a special person in our city uh that is uh coming up upon retirement. We have um Ben Binham has uh been serving as a police officer for 25 years and he is going to retire next Friday, March the 13th. this will be his last uh board meeting and he he I'm just telling you have my own personal experiences with him. But he is known throughout the police department to be that guy that uh whatever you ask him to do if it's overtime if there's a special assignment he's been that guy to step up and do it. I know that I met him uh watching my sons play high school football at DInnesota Central. He was uh every Friday night you would see Ben out there and uh so the the amount of overtime he put in for this city uh is incredible. Uh then he uh obviously took the assignment to be the our protector and security at city hall and uh and we could write a book about the things that come in that front door and the the things that happen. And Ben has always been that guy that uh just he takes care of business. I mean he's he's made sure that we're all safe here at city hall. Um he's addressed uh one one of the things I love the most about him is he addressed one of my personal pet peeves when uh people park in a handicap zone when they're not handicapped and uh so some people would say well we got better things to do but I felt like that's important. Uh Ben took care of that for us as well but but much bigger things

than that. He just he led an outstanding uh law enforcement career and made many many sacrifices, you know, both personally and, you know, with his family and everything else. Put himself in uh risky situations, you know, for the betterment of South Haven. So, if everybody will let's uh let's stand and give a a round of applause FOR OKAY. NEXT, our first on our agenda is the approval of minutes for the February 17, 2026 meeting. So move second. Second. We have a motion by Alderman Hoot. Second by Alman Lewis.

Is there any discussion? Hearing none, roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman Hoots. Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Alman Wheeler. Yes. Orderman Flores, yes. That motion carries. Next on the agenda is a resolution to ratify emergency expenditures. City attorney, Mr. Nick Manley. Yes, Mayor Board. During the um ice or snow event, we had city public works utilized equipment for motor graders from Thompson or equipment such as motor graders and tops and machinery for cleaning the streets. Uh the total cost about $19,232. We should go ahead and ratify those as emergency expenditures during the ICE event. Motion second.

We have a motion of Alderman Flores, second Gallagher. Is there any discussion? And again to everybody, here's that equipment that you know, Robert Booth did an outstanding job assessing the upcoming storm. So, we went ahead and uh reserved these motorgraders. They were they're difficult when you have a catastrophic event coming up. Uh the demand is much higher than the supply. So Robert did a good job of securing these and we did invest in the equipment did use the uh the equipment which was very effective on the road. So that's uh that's what this is about. Any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman who? Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Alderman Wheeler. Yes.

Alderman Flores. Yes. Motion carries. Next on our agenda is approval to seek bids for the fire station number three expansion project. They just need authorization to go to bids. The bids once they're received back brought back to the board. Um but the bids I mean the plans are ready. Sorry. The plans are ready and um the bid documents are ready. So just need authorization to advertise them. Motion second.

We have a motion by alderman Flores, second by alderman Wheeler. Is there any discussion? And this, as y'all know, we we have our budget discussions, we rank our uh facility enhancement projects. So, this has been on our list for a few years. So, it's a uh good that we're finally getting to this one. It's going to make a big difference for fire station number three. Any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis? Yes. Alderman H? Yes. Alderman Jerome, yes. Alderman Gallagher, yes. Alman Wheeler, yes. Alman Flores, yes. That motion carries. Next on the agenda is the contract with the Sweeping Corporation of America.

Yeah, at the previous meeting or prior meeting, we rejected the bids for the Street Sweeping Equipment. Um, now we're going back into a contract uh with Street Sweeping Corporation. We're still working out the final details of the contract based on some revisions that we requested. Um so tonight the um plan is to get authorization contingent upon final approval of the mayor and public works director and me um for that contract so that we'll have it in place between now and next meeting is the hope so we can get a motion to approve it contingent upon final approval and then we can enter into the m the minutes at the next meeting. Nick, is is this going to be a one-year contract or

it's Well, it'd be a it'd be a three-year, but we'd have an authoriz we'd have a um terminate. I've asked for a termination for convenience clause in the contract so that you would have like a 90-day opt out, but it' be at least for a minimum of one year without being up to three years is the um contract language, but we could always get out of it assuming that we do the termination for convenience clause. Like I said, we we're waiting to hear back from them. Yeah, I I I kind of like personally see us go put that to bid if we could because I mean I don't think any of us really been happy with them for the last few years. We we have a plan in place. Okay. All that motion. Second.

We have a motion Flores, second by Alderman Hoots. Is there any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Alderman Lewis, yes. Alderman Hoots, yes. Alderman Jerome, yes. Alderman Gallagher, yes. Alderman Wheeler, yes. Alman Flores, yes. That motion carries. Next on the agenda is our two our sponsorship agreements for the bank plus amphitheater advertising sponsorships.

Yeah, this uh agreement is with um it's Lou Sophot. Um that's the contract with Honda or Hyundai. Um so similar to the contract we've done in the past. The first year they'll pay the city 38,000, second year 40,000 and year three 40,000. Um, in exchange they get advertising rights at the amphitheater that are similar to what they're doing now, including u a box and two two parking passes and some wall murals and then also um onsite vehicles. So the authorization for the mayor to sign the contract. Um it's very similar to what we have now and it's our forum sponsorship agreement for the amphitheater. Motion second.

We have a motion Flores, second by Alderman Wheeler. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman Hoots. Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Orderman Wheeler. Yes. Artman Flores. Yes. That motion carries. Next on the agenda are resolutions for utilities and information technology surplus. It is just surplus equipment in accordance with this be code 172525 for utilities and um information technology departments. So move. Second. We have a motion. Alderman Hoot, second Alderman Lewis. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I.

I. Any oppose say no. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Next on the agenda is an engineering work authorization or engineering work authorizations.

Yeah, these are two work authorizations for engineer. Uh the first one is for the um widening of state line road from west of two lane to west of highway 51. Um authorization will not exceed 240,000 include topography, survey, testing, design, bidding, C and II. Um and the second one is an authorization amount not to exceed 11,000 for inspection of the non-state uh non-state aid boxes and bridges within the city. Um, and those will both be um, in accordance with the master contract or both are in accordance with the master contract um, with the work authorizations as previously approved by the board. Mayor, I'll make that motion. We have a motion from Alderman Hoots. Is there a second? I'll make that.

Second, Alderman Jerome. I'll start the discussion. Dan, I apologize to you. At our meeting earlier today, I was supposed to meet with you and we got tied up with a bunch of different things. Can you brief me on the 11,000? like where what you're actually doing and and where that who pays that is that the city expense or is that related to the state aid project? Uh

there were there were nine bridges that qualified that that need to be reviewed and inspected on a regular basis that are within the city limits. Uh most of them were built through developments and whatnot on major roads. uh four of them qualify to be added to the state aid list which the state aid engineer uh for the county will add to his list and do basically every other year inspections uh depending on the ratings if the ratings come back below I think it's either below 50 or 65 on a on a 100 scale they then review them every year those will have no city expense and those will be carried by the c uh through the state aid system uh the other five do not qualify for they're not on state aid routes they're on CD routes. Um, so this is for five uh box andor bridge inspections. They're all five will be covered this year through that same rating system and then they'll be split up every other year like a state aid system to give you a rating so we can gauge where those boxes and bridges are at on that uh structure number. So this year is a city expense. It's 11 thou not to exceed $11,000 and then I foresee a reoccurring probably four or five every year because it'll be split. So you'll do two one year and three the next type situation so we can monitor and maintain if we have structural issues with those crossings. So, Caleb, what we'll need to do in in a section 902 for general expenses, I think we may have u some type of, you know, we've tried not to be generic with professional services. We become very detailed, but that's where we want to put that. So, if you will help us make sure that in the 902s, we have a line that addresses these every time. And that's the only questions I had. Anybody else got any questions for Dan about this or either of these? And the state line widening project is

making it three lanes uh west of Highway 51 back to two-lane road. Um and that's basically all there is to that one. Any other discussion hearing? None. Roll call. Thank you, Dan. Alderman Lewis, yes. Alderman H. Yes. Alderman Jerome, yes. Alderman Gallagher, yes. Orderman Wheeler, yes. Orderman Flores,

yes. That motion carries. Next on our agenda are the Snowden Grove fence bids. Yes. Uh we went to bid or the city went to bid for the Stone Grove fence bids. They all came in over budget. So tonight the recommendation is to reject the bids and um rebid. And Dan Cordell is here if you have any questions on that um and the bidding process and the and the plan. But tonight we do need the authorization to reject all bids and re authorize rebidding as well.

Motion. Second. We have a motion Flores, second by Alderman Wheeler, and I'll share some for the board and everyone. So, basically, we have some of the fencing at Snow Grove Park, which is obviously one of our largest parks in the city. Uh, years ago, the white fencing was put up, both the exterior taller fencing, and then on the interior of the park, the split rail fence that goes around Sunset Loop, um, and then some other parts that are on Snowden Lane. So, some of that needs to be replaced. Uh but as you know that's a large amount of linear foot fee to do all that. So that's why what we're trying to do is pay for that in our um uh parks enhancement plan. Uh but when we got the bid some of that is going to exceed the amount of money that we could allocate for that. So we want to make sure that we get the right amount that fits what we have budgeted for it and we're hopefully get a better price too. So that's the reason for a rebid. Okay.

Any other discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Alderman Lewis, yes. Alderman H. Yes. Alderman Jerome, yes. Alderman Gallagher, yes. Alman Wheeler, yes. Orderman Flores, yes. And that motion carries. Next on our agenda is our planning agenda. Our planning director, Miss Whitney Cook.

Yes, sir. We have two items on the agenda tonight. And the first one is going to be uh a request to revise the existing Dotto central plan unit development. Uh this is going to be on the south side of Nail just west of Gatwell. Um you're probably more familiar with it being the deer chase area. Um we have what you see highlighted in red right there is a 7.95 acre lot identified as lot 5. What they're wanting to do uh you have the existing multi- uh story provost building there that has commercial and office space on the bottom. You have lofts above it. The original plan showed um 15 cottage single family residential cottages that kind of did an L-shape on the interior of that um gated area. Uh minimum heated square footage for those was 1,800 square ft. Price point was somewhere around the 2200 to 2500 range. Um you'll see a comparison of the bulk regulations that were approved with that. Um but essentially what they're wanting to do now is take those those are the original ones right there. What they're wanting to do now is to um take those out and incorporate town homes into that area that match what the existing provos looks like. I think we do we should have a a rendering in there of those as well. So in comparison, instead of the 15 units, you're going to be looking at 26 units. Instead of the 1,800 foot heated minimums, you're going to be looking at a minimum of 2280. Uh price point uh is now instead of 2200 to 2500, it's now 3500. Um, these are a design we don't have yet. I would I would compare them to somewhat of like a brownstone look. Correct. There you go. Right there. Um, same materials, same kind of arches in flat rooftops and things that you have uh with the provost. And it also has uh a two-car garage. It also has a rear entrance just as the cottages did. Uh, one of the other things that was brought up in the planning commission uh was a reaction to the residential properties that were around it. You know, that actually directly abut it. Uh, Mr. Mr. Ray, who's out here in the audience, uh informed

the planning commission that they were actually going to talk with them and just put up a new uniform fence across all of their backyards as well. We've received no um negative comments regarding it. Uh no calls to my office. Uh we do feel like this is a better match to um the provost area. Uh the cottages are great. They have the pitch roofs, architectural shingles, things of that nature that match the single family residential homes. But because this is encompassed in that area where the provost is, we feel like matching that type of material uh is better suited. Uh and again, it's it's it's a type of house we don't have here yet. Uh so we feel like it's going to be a better asset. So um after going through a couple of different questions and answers of the planning commission, u they did approve it unanimously. It's a change. Mr.

Mayor, I make a motion that we approve item number one on the planning agenda as presented tonight. Second. On item one, we have a motion Flores, a second by Alderman Wheeler. Is there any discussion? Whitney, are those town homes going to be for sale? Are they? No. So, the lofts are managed, property managed by Mr. Ray and his team. Uh, it's all inside a gated uh facility and these will be in there as well with private drives and, you know, a gated access. So, he is proposing to keep this under his management as well and just rent them out as uh they also share the amenities that the lofts have. So, it was better suited to keep them under control um for rent. So, we're going from houses that were for sale to rental property.

I don't know that we were saying that. I don't think we ever um put in there that they were going to be sold or rented, but the fact that they're going to have gated access and shared amenities to the provos, it made more sense to keep them into a rental capacity. So, and I think we could defend it if it ever goes outside of there that this is an all-inclusive, all-encompassed behind the private gates and things. Weren't they going to charge like 3500 a month or something like that? Uh yeah, 3500 is where their base price point would be for these. But that would, like I said, include the shared amenities that you already have on site for the provost. They do. Any other discussion on item one? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman Hoots.

Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Alderman Wheeler. Yes. Alman Flores. Yes. That motion carries.

So item number two is kind of a followup to the PUD text. Uh this is a subdivision application which would basically take all of the individual lots uh individual town homes and separate them out into their own individual lots. Not necessarily for ownership, but in speaking with the utility director um Jeremy Whittle uh as well as Ray Humphrey, his predecessor, uh it it ends up being a metering thing for water. So mass metering versus individual metering. Uh we wanted the option to do it uh both ways as keeping them uh all on one lot in a condo style association or if it requires them to be metered individually via a lot. We wanted the opportunity to do this as well. It does meet the criteria and the subdivision regulates and set forth in the ordinance. So we did approve it unanimously as well.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion we approve item number two on the planning agenda is presented tonight. Second. On item two, we have a motion Flores, second by Honorman Wheeler. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman H. Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Orderman Gallagher. Yes. Arman Wheeler. Yes. Flores.

Yes. That motion carries. And Mr. Ray's in the audience with us. I just want to tell you that I that the architectural control and the quality of what you did at Provost is um u second to no other development in the history of the city. And so I I just want you to know I appreciate your investment in the city and the quality manner in which you do that which is you know going to enhance the value of the properties in South Haven. So thank you for that. Thank you all very much.

Yeah. Okay. Next on the agenda is our mayor's report. And so the first announcement just um which is big. We just found out this in a couple days ago, but uh recently the state fire rating bureau uh completed their analysis of the South Haven Fire Department and we got the great news of moving from a class two uh three to a class two. So that's a huge huge thing for our city. Uh that makes South Haven the highest rated uh fire department in the state of Mississippi along with Gulport and Buxy, which is big uh really big from an economic standpoint. When you get into you know commercial insurance rates, it makes it much it makes it more attractive uh for someone to uh you know to own a a commercial building in the city and to do business in the city because it makes a big difference with commercial insurance lowering the insurance rate. It will also impact homeowners insurance and some other dwelling insurance, but not as much on that side. Some homeowner carriers uh don't give a difference in a two and a three rate, so it's not going to reduce everybody's homeowners insurance, but it will in some situations. So, it's a big deal and uh you know, obviously our our fire department is uh is well operated and we just got an have an we have an outstanding effort by everyone in our fire department, but it's not just a fire department thing. our utilities department comes into play with this. Uh and then some of the other major investments that we've done from an administrative standpoint, you know, to invest in the infrastructure of the city, uh specifically the 7.4 million uh fire hydrant project that we completed. It took us about four years to finish it. And uh what that did is just it increased the size uh and the water capacity of lines into the annexed areas and allowed everybody that lives in the city of South Haven to have the same uh fire capacity with their hydrants. And so that was a big deal, big investment. So that impacted it. And

then obviously just you know making sure our fire department we set the budget every year uh you know we have done a good job and uh whatever the the needs are you know we've put the money in into public safety you know as far as you know the engines the ambulances everything that comes into play um with the fire department. We've made those investments to to make sure that our men and women have the best equipment available. And so uh the report today is congrats to us. It's it's paid off. Okay. So, when you go from a three to a two, that's huge. And and uh we're not going to drink champagne long. We're moving on to get to a one. Okay. Our goal is to be the best in Mississippi with nobody else next to us. So, we want to be a class one. And um so, anyway, we'll be talking about that a lot uh more in the near future. Um quick update. Obviously, springtime's rolling around. Uh my favorite time of year is is um next Sunday morning when daylight savings time begins. we can all come out of hibernation. We can start doing the fun things, you know, in the evenings. So, springtime is rolling around and with springtime comes baseball and softball. Okay? So, uh get this. So, this year at Snowden Grove Park, next weekend we'll have our first baseball tournament. We're going to have 20 this year. So, it'll be the first of 20 tournaments. So, baseball has been a huge part of our city's history, not just as a favorite pastime in America, but also from an economic standpoint. So, it's going to be better than ever there. Just a report also on that. I knew it was somewhere close, just from my own recollection, but I did verify with West Brown, our parks director, today that after the city, after all of you, after we invested into artificial turf on all of our fields, um to uh to allow us to not have to cancel tournaments, not uh for teams to be reading the weather forecast on a Wednesday and then dropping out of our tournament because rain's in the forecast. That investment into artificial turf has allowed there to

only be two rain outs since 2020. Wow.

And so think about that. You know, baseball has played in the spring and summer when you get especially the spring you're going to get a lot of rain. And so we've only been rained out twice since we put the artificial turf down. And that didn't have anything to do with the drainage. That was just because there were tornado warnings in the forecast. So anyway, that investment into the artificial turf has paid big big dividends for the city. Last thing I want to ask you for tonight, I am going to ask for board action. So, the Palmer Home for Children uh has a fundraiser and they're uh wanting to have giveaways to help raise money for the Palmer Home. And so, I'm asking the board to u donate two tickets uh to a concert at the amphitheater. We don't know which one yet. We'll get with our concert promoter and find out uh which one would be good. But I'm just asking for authorization to donate two tickets to the Palmer Hunger Show.

I'll make that motion. I'll second. Okay. So, we got a motion. Alderman Jerome, second by Alderman Lewis. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. Any oppose say no. Eyes have it. That motion carries. And that's all for my mayor's report tonight. So, next on our agenda is a our donation docket. And so, we have uh um we have a design jet plotter that's uh being donated from the United States Secret Service to our South Police Department. We just need to accept that donation. I'll make that motion. Okay, we got a motion Jerome, second Lewis. Any discussion?

Hearing none. All in favor say I. Any oppose say no. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Next on our agenda is our personnel docket. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the personnel docket as presented. Second. We have a motion of Alderman Gallagher, second by Alderman Hoots. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Alderman Lewis, yes. Alderman who? Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Alman Wheeler, yes. Flores, yes. That motion carries. Next on our agenda is our city attorney's legal update. Nothing tonight. Nothing else. So, we'll move on. Next on our agenda is our utilities billing leak adjustment docket.

Mr. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the utilities bill leak adjustment docket as presented. Second. We have a motion Gallagher, second by Alderman Wheeler. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, roll call. Alderman Lewis, yes. Alderman H. Yes. Alderman Jerome, yes. Alderman Gallagher, yes. Alderman Wheeler, yes. Alderman Flores, yes. That motion carries. Next on our agenda are two claims dockets. Mr. I make a motion that we approve the claims document in the amount of 3,419,943.37 to include NHS. I second.

We have a motion. Alderman Flores, second Lewis. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Roll call. Alderman Lewis. Yes. Alderman Hoots. Yes. Alderman Jerome. Yes. Alderman Gallagher. Yes. Orderman Wheeler? Yes. Flores? Yes. That motion carries. Okay. No other. I thought there were Is it mine? Is there just one? Yeah, it Yeah, right now it will always be. Okay. We just had a misprint on the thing. Okay. Um, next on our agenda this evening is the purpose of determining the need for executive session. I'll make that motion. I'll second.

We have a motion by Alderman Gallagher, second by Alderman Jerome. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose say no. Eyes have it. Motion carries. The needs this evening are discussion of potential land acquisition and sale, economic development within the city, and interdep departmental personnel with no action. Is there now a motion to declare executive session? So move. Second. We have a motion H. Second Alderman Jerome. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose say no. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Mayor and board will now enter executive session.