Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

Good evening.

This July the 7th, 2026 Board of Meeting is hereby called to order. We're fortunate to have with us tonight Pastor Dean Stewart, Senior Pastor at LaBelle Haven Baptist Church, who will lead our invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which I will lead. Please stand. Pastor, come forward.

Mr. Mayor, Councilman, thank you for your service to our community. You do a great job and we admire you and we are thankful for you. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, I thank you for the opportunity to gather Lord with the representatives from our government that you have placed in positions to rule over us. And your word says that we're to submit to their authority and we're grateful for them. Every man and woman that make up the leadership of these six wars that we have, we are grateful for them. And I pray, God, that you would give them supporters in their life who will pour into them and share thankfulness. I pray, Father, you would give them wisdom to make decisions to lead our community well. Father, I just want to thank you for our mayor, these aldermen, and Lord, I pray you would bless their families, their homes, and their lives. Tonight, we will honor Coach Poole, who poured his life into the young men and women in our community. He's been honored in our state, Lord, and I pray, God, that tonight would be a special night for him and that you would bless him, Lord, in these days in his life. We love you, and we praise you, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance 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.

Thank you. Be seated. Thank you, Pastor Stewart. Madam Clerk, would you conduct roll call?

Aldridge. Here. Collins. Here. Dickerson. Here. Earhart. Here. Gammage. Here. Hamilton. Here. Wallace. Here.

Thank you all present. So a quorum's obviously established. I do have one comment card already completed, but if you're here on one of the public comment items tonight and you plan to address the board, please take one of the blue cards on the front counter right before the front row, complete that, and give it to one of the clerks, clerk or assistant clerk to my right. Board, you have the minutes of our regular meeting on June the 16th. Any questions, comments, or motions to approve those minutes?

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve by Ms. Hamilton. Is there a second? Second. Second. Mr. Wallace, any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. We'll break protocol a moment and go to the microphone and ask Coach Poole to join me, if he will. Thank you. This is a proclamation from the Board and myself to Coach Leslie Poole. As mentioned earlier, he's been honored in the state and he carries a place of honor in our hearts and our community. This is a little lengthy, so bear with me if you will. This is a proclamation, whereas Coach Leslie Poole devoted his entire 25-year coaching career to the students and athletes of Olive Branch, Mississippi, and Olive Branch High School leaving an enduring legacy of excellence, leadership, and sportsmanship that continues to inspire generations of Conquistadors. And whereas, after serving his country in the United States Army and graduating from Delta State University, fighting okra there, Coach Poole came to Olive Branch in 1974, serving first as an assistant football coach and head baseball coach before becoming head football coach and athletic director, leading the football program for the next 23 seasons. And whereas, from 1976, Through 1998, Coach Poole built one of North Mississippi's premier football programs, compiling an outstanding career of 181 victories. capturing 10 district and division championships, seven Chickasaw Conference titles, two state semifinals appearances, and guiding his team to the state playoffs in 11 seasons while earning seven Chickasaw Conference Coach of the Year honors. And whereas beyond his remarkable success on the football field, Coach Poole faithfully served the Olive Branch community through the city's Park and Recreation Department and positively impacted countless young people throughout his mentorship, dedication, and commitment to developing character both on and off the field. And whereas Coach Poole's extraordinary contributions have been recognized through the induction into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame, The Olive Branch Hall of Fame, and through the naming of Poole Field at Olive Branch High School, ensured that his legacy will forever remain a part of the city's rich history. And whereas the city of Olive Branch is honored to recognize Coach Poole for his exceptional service, unwavering dedication to education and athletics, and the lasting impact he has made on our community, I, Kenneth R. Adams, Mayor of the City of Olive Branch and the Board of Aldermen, do hereby proclaim July the 7th, 2026, as Coach Leslie Poole Day in the City of Olive Branch. Congratulations, Coach Poole. Thank you very much. Yes, sir.

Absolutely. Just right here. Is that okay? Let me hold that.

I just want to say thank you to the Mayor and to you board members. I appreciate it. It's an honor. And I've been in the community since 74. That's a long time ago. There's been a lot of changes. But y'all accepted me in 74, and I stand before you tonight, and you still accepted me. So I'm grateful for that. All the information that's been published comes from Greg Phillips, the city's employee. He knows everything about high school football and Olive Branch. He knows everything about me. He probably can tell you how many times I was nauseated before a football game. And he may have even recorded when I had diarrhea, if you don't mind me saying. He is really an asset to Olive Branch football. But rather than talk football, I'd like two minutes to explain how I got involved with the city of Olive Branch. Mayor Nichols, Milton Nichols, I think his office was over there where the fire department is now. He called me and asked me to come to his office. He wanted to talk to me. Well, we had built a new park, and the only person sitting in here old enough to remember this is George Collins. I hated to say that, George. But he asked me, could I finish a little league field so that they could play the state tournament up there? And I said, Mayor Knuckles, I don't have time. He said, I plead with you. I'll give you some help. And he gave me Bull Busby. And that was when we only had three baseball fields. Now you've got fields everywhere. So me and Bull go down there, and we start working on that field. And we got the grass looking good, the skin portion looking good, and me not knowing anything about Little League baseball, he and I built a mound. Perry Lee Bowlin was the local Little League chairman, and he brought the state director up here. And the state director looked around, He said, everything looks great, but Little League Baseball don't have a mound. The mound's got to come down. Bull and I had taken one of them jumping jacks and pounded that thing. It was harder to get the dirt off of it, but we finally got it down, and the director came back and accepted it. That was one call I got from Bear Milton next week. The second call, he wanted to know if I could make the grass in Blocker Cemetery look like the football field. And I said, I might can, but it's not going to be done overnight. Well, he said, just do what you can. I said, well, I'm going to have to have equipment, fertilizer, and chemicals. Get what you need. So me and the kids that were working on it, started going to the cemetery. And we got the cemetery grass looking really good. Then Will McNair, I don't know if some of y'all here know Will, he came in as park director. I said, Will, if we don't get on that grass, he said, you don't have to do that this year, coach. I said, why not? He said, you don't have to because we've hired a lawn contractor. that we bid it out. I said, why didn't you tell me you was going to bid it out? I might have bid it. He said, you don't have a contractor's license. I said, well, I didn't have one when I was working on it the other two years. But that's how I got involved with the city, because of Milton Nichols. Now, again, I thank you, but I want to tell one funny story, and I'm going to close, because I know you've got a lot of business. Brian Dice sitting there, he coached Winston. Then he went to law school, and he went to work with Jimmy Woods. My closest friend, who's laying up in Blocker Cemetery now, Roe Ross, was with Ben Woods and died one afternoon. And Roe was very blunt. He didn't mean anything by it, but he was going to say what he thought. and act like he was mad as the devil, he said, let me get this straight. You worked with Coach Poe, and now you're working with Jimmy Woods. He said, young man, you ain't got a chance in hell of being successful. Thank y'all, and I appreciate it.

Also off the board yet with the consent agenda now you have those items before you. Certainly know you've reviewed those in any questions comments or motions on the consent agenda items. Motion to approve by Mister Collins is your second. Second miss Aldridge all in favor. All opposed motion cares. You have item one, consent agenda item for planning commission, obviously more administrative in nature. This is simply setting the public hearing date on August 18th, 2026 for this Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing on a conditional use permit. So asking the board to a motion, second, and vote on the public hearing date for August 18th for this particular application. Mr. Dickerson, motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Second Mister Hart all in favor. All opposed motion carries it said on that day. This planning Commission new business, a public hearing date for consideration and action on the motion declaring the condition of the following properties to be a minutes to the public health and safety and directing either the city staff or contract labor to clean the property forthwith doctor song your report please.

Thank you may I demand before you. So question sending a number of properties at a time stuff sent out the memo this property at 9, 0, 6, 4, K during Laney had been clean see on this picture. The one along craft Goodman road frontage owned by the crumpet tell that property had also been cut. The same applies to the parcel along Goodman Road owned by Triverse Corporation at 6130 Goodman Road. That property had been cleaned at the time the staff report or memo was sent out to the board. The same applied to this piece of property on Fox Chase Drive or claim. Since the staff memo was sent out to the board, one property has been claimed. That owned by EPH2 Assets LLC as 6436 Nesting Dove. See here on these pictures, that property has been claimed. There are three other lots. that have not been properly attended to. That owned by Mr. Richard Pounders at 6160 Cherokee Drive. It is still, the grass is, we still have tall grass on that piece of property. There is at 7090 Fox Creek Drive, the grass there is still very tall. It has not been attended to. These pictures were taken this morning. And lastly, at 4551 Camilla Place, These picture was taken about 4 o'clock this afternoon grass is still tall. It has not been cut. Therefore staffs recommend that the board to declare a condition of the following 3 properties to be a menace to public health and safety and direct I got to see the staff or contract level to clean the properties for the accomplished house presentation. Thank you.

Thank you doctor saw is anyone here to speak. on behalf of or against any discussion on the properties that have been named. Anyone here to speak? Come forward, sir. Are you Mr. Griffith? Yes. Thank you for being with us, Mr. Griffith.

I live at 7, 0, 7, 8, Fox Creek Drive, 7, 0, 7, 7, 0, 9, 0 is my next door neighbor. His grass in the front yard is about a foot high and the backyard. It's hard to even estimate. It's a jungle back there. I got poison ivy a couple of weeks ago because they have stuff growing over the fence post or the fence, and I was tearing it down. And when I looked at it, I thought it was poison ivy. I should have took a deeper breath before I tore it down. So I ended up with poison ivy and had to get steroid shots. So I'd appreciate you guys doing whatever you can for that. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. And that's in regards to 7090 Fox Creek Drive. Thank you, sir.

I assume the house has been vacated. Does anyone live there? Has it been vacated?

As far as I know, it's vacated. No one lives there. I'm not certain. I've heard it's up for foreclosure. I haven't researched any of it.

Thank you. If the board's so inclined, motion, second, and vote on these properties that need to be addressed, these three public comments obviously closed at this point mr. Wallace motion to clean is there a second mr. Collins second all in favor all opposed motion carries for the city to address those properties thank you sir Next item under new business consideration of recommendation to authorize final payment number 7 in the amount of $50,774.92 including retainage on the contract with Alexander Construction LLC and accept the project as complete for the project referred to as the Pickleball Facilities Ollie Branch City Park.

The swims we we we've had a good success in getting this project done. It is complete. This is our final payment includes retainage and we are requesting that final payment acceptance of the project be paid.

Thank you, Mr. Williams, Mr. Rocker CEO record minimal damage from the storm to the pickleball facility. Any questions board. That's right high usage on that court and people are certainly enjoying it. Is your motion to make this final and to pay the final payment. Mister Collins motion to pay is your second. seconds over. In a discussion all in favor. All opposed motion carries item to consideration of recommendation to approve change order number 11 on the contract with a and B construction in the additive amount of $3,213.79 increase the contract amount from eight million eight hundred thirty six thousand three hundred seventy dollars and ninety five cents to eight million eight hundred thirty nine thousand five hundred eighty four dollars and seventy four cents extending the contract time by an additional fifteen calendar days making the new contract completion date June the 30th, 2026 for the project for 2 is olive branch public works complex, which wins.

It's basically just a very it's a it's a very small amount of those this change order there's an according wall and accordion type wall that extends out that was hitting the sprinkler heads. So those actually have to be recessed up into the ceiling. So this is to cover the cost of that change order. So we are requesting approval for that work.

Thank you, sir.

I got a question. Why does it have June 30th on here? Has it already been completed?

No, the work has not been completed.

What's the completion date by June 30th? I'm just confused. I didn't know if the work had already been done and if I had completed it or was that just a misprint?

What does it say, June 30th? I'm looking, okay. Fifteen days.

We're past June the 30th.

We are, so they would just be beyond the contract time. They were given additional time, but they can still be beyond the contract time, but the June 30th is the additional days that they've requested to do that work.

It doesn't say that. but it means you're giving them an additional 15 days.

They can still be beyond the contract time.

Through June 30th. So if the project were to extend beyond June 30th, either there would be an additional change order in the future or they would be beyond the contract completion.

Well, I mean, it doesn't. That isn't how I read it. But I mean, that's fine. I understand what you're saying. But it says make the new contract completion date June 30th. It doesn't say 15 days, you know, additional. But I'm fine with it.

I mean, I'm not, you know, that's not... Now, I can't speak as to why June 30th was selected since we are past that date. It is. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We've already assuming the prior contract completion date was June 15th. They got 15 additional days in this contract or if this change order is approved.

Any type of change order that we do will add additional days if it has to do with weather, if it has to do with a certain amount. The contractor, for various reasons, could have passed that date and looked like that is the case here. But the 15 additional days is tied to this work. And so the June 15, like Brian said, is the date that we had for the completion date. We did give them the additional two weeks that would take for this work.

So is it a fair statement, Mr. Swim, that this work is done, it's completed, and now we want to pay it?

No, this work has not been done yet.

In general, change orders need to be approved in advance of the work being done.

They can still be beyond the date. But once you give them the additional time, which we did, we have to go off the date that's current for the completion date.

We'll look at the wording, because obviously it's not a new completion date if it's June 30th, because it's already passed. But we'll look at the wording going forward. But you're comfortable that this is the right amount, $3,213.79? Yes, sir. Okay.

I mean, I don't have a problem with that.

And I think, Mayor, to the point Mr. Swims, I think, would make is that The 15 days is the amount of time that was anticipated for this particular additional work. That's correct. It wasn't necessarily intended to set a date that would be reflective of the completion of all work.

That's right.

They said the contract completion date was June 15th. They think the recessing of the sprinkler heads would take another two weeks, and so they granted the contractor 15 additional days. Is it fair to say that you may have a...

final quantities adjustment the final change order to true up all unit prices and uh lines in the contract well we will have that uh whether or not that's gonna then the rain days that are associated with it that all is looked at sometimes toward the end i'm not sure if we're finalizing that or not but at this point for each change order sometimes they have uh days associated with them, and sometimes they don't. Those days keep adjusting the time period for the completion of the project. So it is confusing. I understand it's confusing, but it is sometimes where the additional time, because we could get to the end and say, hey, you should have had this contract done in a certain period of time. We've got to go back and look and see if there's anything that needs to be done for damages or going beyond the contract time. but uh but the two weeks that we're giving them here is strictly for the producing this work and that's that's we went to the date that they currently had for completion and we added the two weeks on to that date well my own thing was it looks like we're proving it after it's been done

I would think the public would look at it, too. I don't see anywhere on here that says the completion date was June the 15th, and we're extending it to June the 30th. But I mean, I just think it needs to be worded back.

We'll look at the wording and see if we need to just say an additional 15 days and then decide what to put as far as the completion date going forward. Because it's obviously not a new contract completion date, because we're past June the 30th.

Well, if they were to end today, they would be seven days over time. And you would have a liquidated damages provision in the contract. But what's likely to occur is a final change order that may, and I'm making this date up. Justin and Michael and Andy would know better. But there could be a final quantities adjustment change order that adjusted all your lines for final quantities and approved additional days for weather or otherwise that hypothetically made the contract completion date August 3rd. And you would have that contract completion date.

That's correct. We can look at doing some things to help make this a little bit easier to look at and understand. And I might add that this is something that probably is only going to occur as we get toward the very end of a project, which is where we're at with this. And because we've got to end the contract for various reasons, it may have gone beyond it. It may have been that it's justified or not justified, but he's gone beyond the dates. We still, just based on what dates, anytime we give him an extension, it's going to be looked at for that particular item. So in this case, the work has not been done. That's what we're trying to get approval tonight. We did give him two weeks, and we went from where we are.

So Mr. Dodd, may I make this suggestion just from an administrative standpoint? Then because of weather and other delays, we will also have our final survey or approval of the contract at some point. Would it make sense and be fair just to strike after the comma 15 calendar days, do away with the completion date, and just extend the $3,213.79?

approve that because the additional work was needed and leave it open ended till we you could except there's a per day there's a per day liquidated damages amount in any type of construction contract and so if i were the contractor i'd say well it's fair that i'd be allowed additional time to do that and so that time between june 15th and june 30th that's real money to the contractor and so they probably want that cover knowing that the board granted that two weeks to do this unanticipated additional work. I would recommend that it be approved as presented, even though it is somewhat confusing since we're past June 30th, because all that's doing is granting the contractor two weeks to do unanticipated, unforeseeable additional work that the city says is needed. And so that grant of two weeks' time gives the contractor relief from what otherwise could be a liquidated damages penalty for those 15 days. So I would recommend it be approved as presented, knowing that you're going to get a final change order as the project approaches ultimate completion that trues up that date in a more accurate manner.

It would true up this item and any other line items that are open and close it out, just like we just did in item number one. That's correct. If there's no more discussion, is there a motion to approve it as is?

Motion to approve it.

Mr. Dickerson, motion. Is there a second? second second Mr hardy more discussion. All in favor. All opposed motion carries item 3 consideration of recommendation to approve a proposal from pickering farm incorporated in the amount of $264,850. for professional engineer services to develop a sanitary sewer evaluation survey board any has a lot more knowledge than i do about this but this is simply smoke testing like the city's done in the past smoke testing of the sewer system so that the engineers and the workers can look for puffs of smoke coming out and to look if there's any holes any caps off of sewer lines, etc. That may be a lot of rainwater to feel that sewer system and care to capacity when we don't want the rainwater in there just to identify locations need to be prepared repair or caps put on them is that the decent.

But it's a problem that all cities contend with. It's also something that we get pushed from different federal agencies and state agencies about making sure that we're looking into our sewer system. If you look at the crew, every month when we review our bills, we see the rain days at the very end of our agenda. And that shows spikes in what the city uh... what is actually being treated by the crew and we're paying that bill so it actually does cost the city of olive branch uh... money when too much rainwater gets into a system this is something that kind of needs to be going on uh... on a pretty frequent regular basis for us to look at where these problems are and try to get them corrected so We do recommend it. I know it's a lot of money, but I think it could actually make some impacts. And we also have a lot of places in the city of Olive Branch where we have overflows with sewer systems from time to time. And a lot of that is almost always associated with rain water getting into our system. So that'll help correct some of these problems.

landowner mowing their grass may not realize when they accidentally hit that cap with the lawn mower blade and it cuts it off they just see a hole and they don't realize that that is just like having a garden hose down in there when rain's falling and it's going in there to fill it up and again we have to pay to have it treated and we get zero reimbursement because it's not metered water it's water that fills that system and may create problems elsewhere ideal COO Riker would be if we actually did 10% of our infrastructure every year until we get all these closed and especially the older sewer lines that are in place that may have damage out in the middle of a field somewhere or somebody's backyard and they may not realize that infill is taking place in that sewer system and creating cost and problems. I think it's worthwhile and look forward to reporting back to the board. If you approve this, what is found and fixed so that we can eliminate some of the infill. And again, like Mr. Swim said, the overflow through a sewer grate, which nobody wants in their neighborhood or on their street.

I think it would be a good idea to bring it back to the board and just give you all a report of what we found and how much. We think it will impact the system because the report they're going to do is going to kind of give you an update, a little bit about how bad the problem is. So you can look at your lift stations, what they're supposed to be bringing in, and do theoretical calculations of how much sewage actually should be going in there And when we have rain events, how much is actually going in there? That really tells you a snapshot of how bad the problems are. So we can kind of bring that back and kind of keep y'all updated about that. And so we can see, I guess, understand why it's important for us to do this. board any questions on we've done this before we've got years ago yeah homeowners get a notice we've made repairs and I'm not quite sure how many years ago it was but but yeah we do this so often I mean so many years I mean when Bigelow was here we did this We talk about it quite a bit. It stays on the forefront, and so we think that we probably need to continue looking at this and budgeting for it.

Do you rotate like so many years? I remember doing it down behind my house.

The crew is doing a similar program for a lot of their interceptor sewer lines, and so they're involved with it as well because they have lines that have a lot of these problems.

So ideally, if we do a different section every year, say 10%, over 10 years, we get it all complete and address the problems and get them closed up, ideally.

All right. This is developing the survey. It's not actually doing it right.

This for this portion is for us to say how that where the problems are and and say and they're going to put together a report that shows us.

Exactly what this is the smoke tear system on this is the smoke.

It's a service that doesn't require a it's a service basically mayor that will identify where the problems are it's not the construction that would remedy the problem homeowners are getting those right now.

I think next year we'll probably be bringing it back under next year's budget to consider some funding to actually do some, to correct some of these problems.

It's a necessary evil. We'd rather spend $264,000 on a half a mile of asphalt, but if we know we're losing money and creating sewer problems with rainwater going in, it just makes sense. And again, homeowners are notified, businesses are notified, while our teams are out looking for the smoke that's going in the air so they can fix holes in the sewer system. If there are no more questions, is there a motion? Mr. Wallace, motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Second, Ms. Hamilton. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Is there a motion to leave record session to go into executive session to discuss items 1 through 7? So move your heart motion second Collins all in favor. All opposed with left record session is your motion to go in executive session to discuss a personal matter that animal control Department, a personal matter in the engineering Department personal matter in the fire Department personal matter in the guest Department. Personnel matters in the police Department personal matter in the street Department and personal matter in the water maintenance Department is your motion to go in executive session for those items.

So move.

Mr. Hart motion, Mr. Wallace second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? We are in executive session.