Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

In time, we will call this meeting to order.

This is our meeting, our regular meeting of July 7th. We will first stand for a Pledge of Allegiance. We'll follow that with an invitation from Alderman Vaughn. And in a moment, a silence.

creation, the gift of life. Father God, again, it's a favor, a handmade service, and that you come before me. The Lord is not from a shape, form, or fashion, nor is he from outside, short of the world. Father God, it's to give thanks and praises and glory, and to honor you, God, just because you are the way. Again, Father, as always, I pray the Lord that you will continue to bless this marriage, this board, Father God, that you will bless our decisions. You will just grant us the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that you granted King Solomon, he and his son, right and wrong, good and faithful. God, always teach us how to acknowledge you. But most of all, teach us how to love one another. In spite of all our difficulties and our sins, Father, forgive us of all our sins. Lord, that you would hear our prayer, accept our prayer, and just bless us as we go through this meeting. God, it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray.

All right. Thank you, everyone. That was nice to hear the pledge from the entire audience. That was great. We're happy to have you here tonight. Our first order of business, besides the calling the meeting to order, will be approval of the official agenda. And we do have item A under public appearances that has been pulled from the agenda at the request of the presenter. And I'm going to do a little bit of something. We used to usually go one to seven. I'm going to go seven to one. So, Alderman Vaughn, anything you'd like to change?

No, ma'am, ma'am. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, sir. Vice Mayor?

No, ma'am, ma'am. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Alderman Polk?

No, ma'am. Mayor, thank you.

Thank you. Alderman Brooks? No, ma'am. Alderman Skinner?

No, ma'am.

Thank you. Alderman Sistro?

No, ma'am. Thank you.

And Alderman Moore?

No, ma'am.

Thank you. All right. You're very welcome. Then, in that case, I need a motion to approve the agenda with the consented items. Move approval. I have a motion from Alderman Polk. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Skinner. Thank you so much. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? It is unanimous. Thank you so much. And with that, I will read the consented items. First, we have consideration of the minutes of the June 12, 2026 work session of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starville. Then we have consideration of the minutes of the June 16th, 2026 recess meeting of the mayor and board of all of the city of Starkville. Then under mayor's business, we've got consideration of the resolution authorizing the lien for 1710 Arrowhead Drive as provided in the attachments. Under department business effect, Excuse me, the airport we've got item 1 request approval of the 3 dash 2, 8, 0, 0, 6, 8. 0, 3, 5, 2, 0, 2, 6 grant to construct a box hanger in the amount of 586,000 dollars with a city match of 5,397 dollars and 37 cents. Under 2, the airport, we've got request extension of MDOT Multimodal MM-0068135 Supplemental Agreement No. 1 through October 1, 2027. 3 is request approval of the FAA 3-28-0068-034-2026 AIP grant to extend the Runway 1836 Phase 5. paving and lighting, extend taxiway A, phase two, paving and lighting, in the amount of $3,960,799, with a city match of $36,481.04. Number four, under airporters' request to award Cook & Son LLC the lowest and best bid for the phase two runway 1836 and taxiway extension project, in the amount of $3,748,762.22, dealing in large numbers, funded from the FAA 2026 AIP grant. Under Community Development and Planning Department, number one is discussion and consideration of COA 26-02, a request for a certificate of appropriateness at 604 Greensboro Street in the Greensboro Historic District. Item 2 is discussion and consideration of a COA 26-03, a request for a certificate of appropriateness at 521 Greensboro Street in the Greensboro Historic District. Number 3 is a discussion and consideration of reappointing Vicki West, Ward 2, to the Planning and Zoning Commission. And number 4 is a discussion and consideration of Final Plat 26-04, a request for Final Plat approval for Western Crossing Development Phase 2, First revision, subdivision on the west side of Carter Boulevard in MDU-20 zoning district. Under engineering, we have first is consideration of approving the low quote from Groundstone Construction LLC for the Greenhill Street flume project in the amount of $17,620. Number two is consideration of approval of a low bid from Lyle Machinery for a pre-owned bulldozer for the amount of $140,000. Number three is consideration of approving the summary change order in the amount of $1,011.20 for Hannon, LLC for the Bortown Village bus stop. Number four is consideration of approving change order number four for the Main Street Improvements Project in the amount of an $84,894.32 increase and no additional days. Under Finance and Administration, number two is request authorization to reject all bids for janitorial services for City Hall and the Sanitation Department and to advertise for a part-time custodian for both locations. Under Human Resources, number one is request approval to reimburse Amanda Taylor for tuition reimbursement expenses. Please see attached supporting documents. Under 2 is request approval to reimburse Lyle McCaskey for tuition reimbursement expenses. Please see attached supporting documents. 4 is request authorization to hire William Shane Grantham as a manager billing in the Starkville Utilities Department. 5 is request authorization to hire Patricia Young as a temporary part-time custodian in the Starkville Utilities Department. 6 is request authorization to hire Hayes McMullen as a firefighter non-certified in the Starkville Fire Department. Seven is request authorization to hire Dylan Ritchie as police officer pre-academy in the Starkville Police Department. Eight is request authorization to transition student intern position to a regular part-time position in the city clerk's office. Under parks, first item, only item, is consideration to amend the contract with Cairo Shows Inc. for the July 4th community celebration at Cornerstone with an increase of $2,500 for a total of $18,250. Under code enforcement, we have number one, Under Mississippi Code Annotated 21-1911 Sub 2, and as adopted by the City of Starkville Board of Aldermen, the following properties are found in violation of said ordinance and are in such a state of uncleanliness as to be a menace to the public health, safety, and welfare of the community and are therefore placed on the property mowing cleanup list. That would be 77 Choctaw Road, 216 Herbert Street, and 1704 Douglas MacArthur Drive. Under the Sanitation Department, we have number one, Request authorization to transfer two zero-turn lawnmowers, serial numbers 402250153 and 400397597 from the Parks Department to the Sanitation and Environmental Services Department. Two is request authorization to declare five lawnmowers as surplus property, advertise them for sale to the highest bidder, or sell directly to the scrap dealer. Three is request approval for consideration to enter into an agreement with a wise staffing group. Under the Utilities Department, one is request approval to accept the lowest bids received for source of supply listing for Starkville Utilities, Electric Division and Water Division, July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. Two is request authorization to accept the product evaluation agreement with Honeywell Technologies for a pilot project of cellular-based water meters. Three is request authorization to accept the emergency purchase in accordance with Mississippi State Statute 31-7-13 from the electric motor sales and service in the amount not to exceed $7,475 for repair and rebuild of a non-potable pump at the wastewater treatment plant. Number four is request authorization to advertise for the Currywell Electrical Rehabilitation Project. Five, consideration of approval of change order number three for a price decrease of $39,150 for the Influent Lift Station Rehabilitation Project for final quantity adjustments. Number six is request authorization to advertise for request for qualifications, RFQ, from qualified firms to provide grant management consultant services for projects related to electric infrastructure grants. And that concludes a rather long consent agenda.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. I'm happy to do that. And next, we move to announcements and comments. And under Mayor's comments, I hope everyone had a great fourth. And I know the fireworks at Cornerstone were well attended. All right. So this weekend, we do have the Jeffrey Simmons football camp, which is a really cool thing. He's done this, I think, three years in a row now. And my understanding is he's got 400 kids on Friday and then 300 plus kids on Saturday. So it'll be very well attended. And we really appreciate his participation in Starkville on this. So that, I believe, is all I have. So, Alderman Vaughn, anything?

No, Mayor. Thank you.

Vice Mayor.

Mayor, thank you. I appreciate the recognition. Mayor, I want to briefly mention three things to the board and the mayor tonight. Number one, Mayor, I just want to thank you for the, as well as the family of Mr. Theotis Weaver Sr. They appreciate the proclamation that you prepared. for the Vice Mayor to read and present at the funeral service on this past Friday afternoon, the third day of July of 2026. Mayor, at the very beginning of my reading and introductory comments at the service, I did inform the family that you did attend the visitation service. That was well received by the family. And I talked, communicated with one of the daughter thereafter, and she really acknowledged the acceptance of that great proclamation. Thank you for allowing me to read and present. And that's what the family wanted me to do. I always check with the family. to get various specific instructions, and I did that. And in talking about that service, Mayor, I want to just give you a public report, and I've done that at the conclusion of the service via a telephone call, but I want to give a public report. I want to thank my distinguished colleague from Ward 7, Alderman Henry M. Vaughn, Sr., for his presence. And, Mayor, we had with us at that service Our honorable engineer, Mr. Chris Williams, he was there and had just a great presence there. Mr. Terry Kemp was on the program for Reflections and did a very outstanding job in representing the city of Starkville, Mississippi and the utility department. He represented the entire Starkville family greatly. We had countless city employees, including but not limited to Ms. Tiara Cole, Ms. Sabrina Phipps, a former utility, department employee, Mr. Keevan Ware, and just a number of city employees. The city was so well represented. It made... Of course, the gentleman from 7 talked about what a great presence, and so did I. And the family was so appreciative, such a strong presence to give support to the family during their bereavement. And we have such a very professional body of people. Wherever we go, we are so exemplary. We are so distinguishing in the exemplifying of our class. When we're at places, we... just have a great decorum about ourselves, and that's what this body did, and just a straight, unedited report about that service and the family, even after the service acknowledged how things were so well done, including the proclamation, Mayor, and employees, Mr. Williams, thank you, and all of you who went there, thank you. Two other, and thank you, Two other things. I just want to thank our human resource consultant. I spoke with him today. He and his team, mayor and colleagues, gave me a happy anniversary card. I'm not used to getting that during my tenure here. I just come and labor and work hard. That's all I know what to do. I opened the card, Ms. McLaurin. It said, Vice Mayor, happy 33rd anniversary. I said, are y'all kidding me? Thank you so much. Y'all are so kind. You know, I'm still young enough to cry, you know, but I held my tears back. And they said, from your friends in HR. And then they went on to say, Vice Mayor, I know you're a warrior. Keep up with everything. They said, you're number two in CR, the entire workforce. I said, are you for real? Well, thank you for that note. And thirdly, just the housekeeping matter. Again, you know, we're a great family. You know, Vice Mayor like to have conversations with the family when we're together. And we just make us a healthy body. I just want to just say a couple of housekeeping things and appreciate everything that everybody on this governing body does. does for the city. But I want to just follow up very, very briefly. Some of my constituents mentioned this to me, but I'll be remiss. I don't want to get sent to the House without articulating these things. But very briefly, I'm going to close, Mayor. They mentioned to me a matter that was brought up at our last work session on Friday, June 12th of 2026. And it was an agenda item where there was a representative from TVA and Atwell and Gent. And they were very specific about the agenda item saying the Starkville Energy Project for a new development project. on industrial park road and i just just in full transparency with them i just told them that was my first time hearing about it and just a summary of it is that they said vice mayor we want we know that you're gonna as our vice mayor as an attorney you're gonna have full um full uh inc inquiring about it that we need to have um as they put it to me and of course i know these things they have a full transparency full accountability uh they talked about um the different things that you know we want to make sure that we keep our communities safe and healthy i want to know what the impact um that this company that's purporting to come to shop with what impact it's going to have on our water What impact is it going to have on our infrastructure? What impact is it going to have on electricity? Is it going to impact the rates? They want to know about the pollution and the water. What impact will it have on the police department? What impact will it have on fire? I said, well, these are some great questions. Will it increase our utility rates? And I said, well, that remains to be seen. And they asked, well, why is it named the this, uh, the stock furniture project. I said, well, my first time hearing about it at the work session, I don't know. I mean, I'm just as inquisitive as you are. Uh, we're going to get to the bottom line of it. And I say, you know, and, They've already chosen a site. And they said, well, why didn't you choose the North Star Park? It needs some tenants over there. You don't have two tenants over there. You have Garrett and Amazon. I said, well, I've been pushing for some tenants to get over there for years. We have all these high-powered energy and utility and economic development people coming from the link. We pay them all this money. But it is a vice mayor's opinion. We don't get any return on our investment. We have retail strategy. We pay money out dollar after dollar after dollar all the time. And we just sinking money into the pot. You know, like all the high power industries go to Lowndes County. So why is this industry coming here? So, well, we've kind of looked at this and. it looks like this could have some potential negative impacts and and they further inform me well we're just going to kind of we're going to explore this we're going to stay tuned in to this and we just want to see what are the negative implications i said well you can rest assured the vice mayor is going to be on assignment i'm going to do my part i'm not going to do anything that's going to negatively impact this community i'm looking for people who and i say that this won't be a good neighbor but we want i said i'm going to do everything i can to ensure that whoever comes to our community is a good neighbor, is going to bring strength and energy and positivity. Not saying that anyone's going to be negative, but there's a lot of questions about Starkville Energy Project and about the... The location being already chosen, they want to know if there are any, would they require a special exception? Do they have a matter of right to come in here? And some say, well, I understand it's going to be a data center. I said, all I can tell you, it came to us as a Starkville Energy Project. And this locomotive seemed like it's just like a car trying to beat a train across a railroad track. And this train came to us real fast. But I said, but one thing for sure, I've been on this job for 33 years, so I'm going to remain on assignment. And the longer I'm here, the more energy that I have. And I'm not ready to go to the house yet. And I'm going to do my assignment. I assured them. I said, I'm going to keep working hard. If it's not negative for you, I'm going to be your voice in the courtroom and outside the courtroom. I know how to navigate. I'm used to the terrain. I'm used to the atmosphere. I know how to communicate in the atmosphere. I know what to do. how to do it, how to say it, when to say it, and what to say. I said, you can rest assured on that. So I told those constituents and others I would do this tonight. I want to make sure I don't get an F for not doing my job, Mr. Engineer. You know how we as professionals, we have to do our job, Mr. Williams. If we don't, we'll be held accountable. But I'm going to make sure I do my job, and I think I've done my job by saying this. Y'all are so patient with the Vice Mayor. I thank y'all for just listening to me. But again, Mayor, I'm just really excited also about my happy anniversary. These years add up fast. I know y'all got to give me some type of acknowledgement at some point, maybe after the meeting. I mean, I'm like a child at Christmas here. You see this card? Thank you, Mayor. I'm Yale.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

No, ma'am.

Thank you. Just one thing. You mentioned that

thank you very much all right uh next on our my notes next on our agenda is citizen comments and for those it looks like we might have a few folks who want to speak so I want to make sure that we're clear on on how this is structured mr. Turner is usually our first gentleman so mr. Turner coming up and I will talk about it while you're on your way up okay this is a three minute timeline you can talk about whatever you wish to we concerns compliments thoughts about issues including such things as the vice mayor brought up but it is timed and it is at three minutes and so Ms. McLaurin, our city clerk, will be timing that. So just make sure everyone knows. Mr. Turner, how are you this evening?

Doing all right. Good evening to everyone. My name is Alvin Turner-Watt. And I want to thank everyone that have hung in with us through everything that we have been through. It's been 10 years. July 4th. And you all have helped the family stay strong. It don't look that long, but it has been 10 years. July 4th just passed. But anyway, the family wants to thank you for everything that you have done. Also, the people of South Montgomery, They are getting kind of weary of the construction or whatever that is putting pressure on that water line, and they just wanted me to mention that. Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Turner.

All right. Anyone else under citizens' comments? If you would remember to give us your name.

I'm Pam Jones, and I'm a citizen of Starville. And I'm here to just express concern and I guess, more information about the crypto data center. And I have reviewed what you've said, Lynn. I watched the video again, and I read the article that was in the dispatch. And I just wanted to reiterate that as a citizen, I am concerned about that. I know that this is on a smaller scale than the hyperscale facilities. And I just wanted to be sure that we have ordinances in place that will cap the noise, and especially at night, and that there will be water and power management, that we will have a detailed usage plan before they get here so that we can make sure that we're not going to run out of water. And... Then we'd like for our engineers, of course, to be involved in all of that. Prohibit open loop or once through water cooling systems and have an on-site groundwater well if that would be appropriate. help with the water situation i understand that other communities have had problems with that but like you said this is a small scale but um would like to have a community interface where they would have a website where we could keep up with um issues and concerns and that they would be able to see what we think about what's going on and have a response to that. I don't think that's unreasonable to do. And then the name of the tech company. I understand some communities have not known until it got there what the tech community was. And I would just like for us to be able to have that information. know that there are ordinances in place and that there would be a special use exception on a case-by-case need and i feel good about that you know that you would have an opportunity to say we will make that exception or we will not make that exception And just to encourage you to continue to be transparent about it all, as I know that y'all try to be that way. So just expressing concerns.

Thank you, ma'am. You hit it right at three minutes. Well done.

Okay, I heard a phone. All right, anyone else?

Hello, my name is Laurel Lynn Rouse. I live in Ward three. And my comment today is on the topic of the link. And so I recognize that October County has essentially given notice to the link to your notice that potentially, in two years when the contract comes up, they may withdraw from the link. I realize that's the county, but I am giving you a comment that I I really, truly believe the regional partnership is very important to our area and that I support the city maintaining that regional relationship. know i do recognize the reason that they gave for it was staff turtle the county gave for staff turnover um and you know i i'm in agreement with you know some of the concerns they they voiced with the second person departing quickly um but i do i do really think that the region is important Mayor Lynn, you have stated multiple times that Lowndes County, they have the port, they have the trains, they have the airport. These are important issues. I think that the region needs to be partnered, Lowndes, Clay, and Octavia. I will also give my comment to the county.

Thank you. Thank you. Hi, I'm Edie Keenan of Ward 7.

And my main concern is the crypto mining facility, as I'm sure many people's is. And I was quite disappointed to learn that that will not be an agenda item today. If that is something that we are concerned about and that we have questions about, who is the best person to get in contact with? What are the best meetings that we should show up to to get concerns addressed? Because quite frankly, I have more questions than can fit in three minutes.

I won't get in touch with you. Can you give me your phone number? Can I give it to you after? Thank you. Anyone else?

my name is clark price i'm in ward one um i'm here to talk about the crypto mining facility um basically from what i've been given or what i've read online uh it's about a 30 megawatt facility if i'm not mistaken or up to 30 megawatt facility which is uses a tremendous amount of heat uh and power which is equivalent of basically doubling the size of startville which is about 19 000 homes would use that amount per per time for him so um The fans are going to be operating. I don't know if it's going to be liquid-cooled or if it's fan-cooled. What is the basis on that? They're going to be operating 24 hours a day. There's low-frequency issues that can arise that can affect environmental... The people around here, the residents of Starkville can travel for miles on low frequency because it can be anywhere from five feet to 50 feet on a wavelength on that sort of thing, which passes through solid matter like buildings and whatnot. And we need to make sure that we're keeping our people safe because it can disrupt sleeping habits. It can give headaches. It can give oral strain, oral pressure, affect your ears, which is not something that we want around here. I think we need to have like an acoustic study. There's many different things that we're going to be needing for all these things verified by independent people and whatnot. We have to do our due diligence on this sort of stuff. Otherwise, we're going to end up like South Haven. where they're having a lot of issues with Mr. Musk's data center there, which I understand it's not going to be the same scale, but we should definitely be making sure that we're keeping the resonance of star gold in mind. Electricity, it's a continuous load for our data center because they don't really drop or anything. If it's crypto mining, they're going to be running wide open. The fans are going to make a ton of noise. They use a ton of power for all this sort of stuff. 30 megawatts. My third concern is water and the cooling and how we're going to process that. Are they going to need water? Are they going to have fluids? Are we going to find out what the impact is on the environment around here with that? Uh, do they have something in process? We need to have something. Before an accident happens, what do they do if they have a leak? What if it's a. They release heavy metals into our water table, but if all these different things, how is this going to affect the people that, uh. Live in in the area around this, I mean, it's going to industrial part. Uh, we just renovated in the key part. And to make it more beautiful and more attractive, it's not going to be as good if there's just a hum in the area, which can be like 110 decibels at the epicenter. And it reduces at a mile, it's still around 45 decibels, depending on open air, which is enough for a conversation between me and you in here. We need to be cognizant of these things and how it's going to affect us. And what is the economic benefit it's going to bring to our community outside of a short term?

Thank you, sir.

Thank you all so much.

Certainly. Thank you for having me. All right. I'm here. Oh, that's your timer, isn't it? Okay.

Good evening. My name is and I just have a couple of questions for you all. Uh, vice mayor touched on it briefly, uh, as far as overall is the development link in the, in the notice that has been put in. I know this is a question also for the supervisors, but we're also because we're in the county, we're directly affected by it. We want to know. How you all feel as far as the notice and. what would be the overall benefit or impact as far as possibly either reevaluating or possibly leaving and also And also regarding housing is my second question. Is there any, so has there been any development? There has been talks of having a housing coalition that has been starting up and one to know what is the, can you give us any information? Is there any development in it? Because there are a lot of people that are being affected as far as housing prices, raising prices, rent prices, increasing and everything in all of those sorts.

Anyone else?

Hello, I am Austin. I'm here about the Bitcoin Center. And your last name? Wildman. Wildman? Yes, ma'am. I'm here about the mining center. Just at the core, as a child, I witnessed Bitcoin for the first time being used as a drug trafficking method for unsolicited large quantities of Xanax, heroin, you name it. And I just think... Using, I get it, Bitcoin has its place. It's here, it's the number one stable currency. It's the biggest one. I get it. I just think there's, to a point, it's no longer profitable to mine. That went out the window years ago. On top of that, I feel like eventually it's going to become a data center or they're going to replace it with something that, because AI is making money now. That's where I think it's going to go from Bitcoin to an AI data center like everyone thinks it is. It's a mining center currently, right? But I just think that's my concern is that you're not going to find it profitable. It's going to become a data center and then it's going to get expanded and just get worse from there. So thank you for your time.

Anyone else? It's my own. Good evening, my name is Tiffany Womack.

I'm a citizen here in Starkville. I just basically wanted to share my thoughts on the Crypto Mining Center as well. I don't usually like to go into things with a bunch of assumptions. So one of the key concerns was just how available the information would be on actual studies like acoustics and some contractual obligations. that might fall into line to help with maybe like TVA peak times, how they would handle things or power distribution during those times. And one of the other things was just wondering, in dealing with crypto, kind of knowing that there's a lot of volatility in the market. So wondering how the contracts will go, if there's something like that, if there's upgrades needed for the structures, would that be something that could possibly if they go bankrupt or something like that, that would possibly fall back on the responsibility of the Starkville citizens. So just knowing, wanting to know how available that data might be so that we can make some more informed decisions. Thank you.

Anyone else? Hi, my name is Dalton Winans-Pruitt.

I'm in Ward 2. I wanted to voice the only concern about the Bitcoin mining facility that I can think that hasn't been mentioned yet is the potential noise impacts on wildlife and potentially the proximity to the Humane Society. I would also like to be put on that list to be involved in those conversations if I could give my number to the lady. Okay. Thank you.

All right.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Anyone else? All right, seeing none, I'm going to close it as citizens' comments, and I'm going to take this opportunity to hopefully help a little bit because this particular topic, we had a work session on it, as the Vice Mayor mentioned, on, I believe it was June the 12th. Is that right, Vice Mayor? Sure, yes, ma'am. Okay, so Friday, June the 12th. So those of you, and you're all obviously sophisticated from a computer standpoint, so you can all go online and look at that work session. And that work session outlines a lot of the questions that you were talking about. And this is a project that has not even yet come before our staff to determine it. It is in such early stages. But I wanted to make sure, based on all the things going on throughout the nation, not the least of which is the northern Mississippi area, down in Jackson, down in Ridgeland, that we started this discussion early and learned as much as we could, which is why I brought it to the board as an opportunity for us to begin that process of learning. So we are nowhere near making decisions, which is why it isn't on the agenda and won't be on the agenda for some time to come because, again, it's got to go through the process of the staff vetting it, our fire department looks, our police department looks, our engineering department looks at it, our utilities department looks at it. So all those things have got to go through the staff process first. And each one of those, all those questions that you ask are going to be things that will be provided and we'll learn from it. And the staff may or may not have recommendations one way to this board. But by the time it makes its way to this board, we will have all that information that you have asked. And we have some of it there. So if you will go and look at that June the 12th work session, I think you will see the information that a lot of you have asked about. And so do that. And I'm happy to call each one of you. and we're also happy to put that information, it's out there, it's out there now, just so you'll see that presentation, but also happy to put that further out there as we get deeper into this. But it was an opportunity for us to begin this discussion so that nobody is being, nothing's being hidden, it's all out there for everybody to see, and we make decisions based on facts, not on Facebook craziness, which a lot of Facebook stuff is way out there. So anyway, we want facts and we want decisions to be made And so hopefully that will put some of your concerns at ease to the extent that this is nowhere near being something that will be on the agenda. Okay, now, citizens' comments, we now go to public hearings. We have our first public hearing on the rental housing section of the Unified Development Code to include short-term rentals. And so the short-term rental ordinance is to add, basically, or include short-term rentals into our rental housing section of the Unified Development Code. We have long-term rentals in there now, but it does not address what has become very prevalent in the community, particularly with the university, which is Airbnbs and VRBOs, those renting out the room for a weekend or whatever. And so one of the things that has, we took this up about five years ago or so and didn't go any further with it. But one of the things that has become, that has changed, it caused this to be something for us to look at again, is the fact that the legislature has now included anything from one bedroom up to be a part of our hotel-motel tax, which we collect. And so this is a very robust industry in Starkville, based on, obviously, our athletic events and people coming to town. They can't get a hotel room because we're also shy about 300 hotel rooms by the count. And so they're doing Airbnbs or BRBOs, whether it's because they can't get a hotel room or because they prefer that way of staying in Starkville for events. But the point of that is that there is an opportunity and a reason for us to collect the 1 and 2%. This is not an imposition of a 1 and 2% sales tax or food and beverage hotel tax. that is not already in existence. We already have it. So this is a matter of making sure that those who are falling under that are being, that we're capturing that information. So it is not paid by the Airbnb owner. It's paid by those who are renting the Airbnb. Just like you go to a hotel and pay your hotel room included in that is that 1% hotel tax. So that's what this is about. So I say that to say that the things that we are Providing on here is an intent statement. We have to provide a reason that the board is doing this, that the government is doing this based on our need and our desire to capture that 1%, 2%. The intent is to include short-term rentals, so we have a definition of that. There's a registration, and the registration fee is $15. It's not intended to be onerous. It's merely intended for us to know who it is that is out there that has a registration or that has a Airbnb and is operating and such. We then added it in the licensing section. There is an occupancy load. It's kind of two people per bedroom and maybe two on the couch. So it calls that out. The poster requirements, if you are, for example, in your neighborhood, if you've got someone who has bought a house, renovated it, and all they're using it for is Airbnb, then specifically things like when do you put out the trash? Do you park your car in the yard versus parking it in the driveway or parking it on the street? So those kinds of things that are available. What's the number for the police? What's the number for For the hospital, for example, those things that would be appropriate for somebody who doesn't know Starkville and is now staying in Starkville. And is it a home as opposed to a hotel where you might call down to the front desk? And then the other is just to add the definition. So that kind of in a nutshell is what that is. So if this is an opportunity for us to open it as a public hearing, but I'll start first with the board. Any board members want to speak to this matter? I know the vice mayor, you had some thoughts about it early on. And just to, I'll highlight here real quick. We pulled the ordinances from Columbus and Tupelo and Oxford and tried to work through them with things that are obviously specific to Stark. And so we have, you never have to reinvent the wheel in government because somebody else has done it ahead of you and it always works to use other people's experiences and work in order to get your best product. So anyway, I say that to say, Vice Mayor, did you have something you wanted to express?

Very briefly, Mayor, just for the benefit of the board and the public, very briefly, about three months or so ago, I looked at these specific ordinances, including the ordinance from Oxford and from Lowndes County, Columbus. My only inquiry to you, I certainly support the... the concept and the context of the ordinance, but I was wanting to share this inquiry with you very professionally and respectfully before, but my rational basis for this is for this reason. As to the renewal fee of $15, Columbus and the Board of Supervisors of Lowndes County each have a $125 application fee and a $50 annual renewal fee, and I was and still am, of the mindset that that's a very reasonable governmental amount and measure. Why? Because that amount, in my opinion, conservatively, can help offset the cost for the administration of this particular ordinance. It's going to take staff to... Uh, be involved in the implementation and the effectuation of the terms provision. So I just want you at least. No decision tonight just kind of further consider that. I just want them to allow. So others could hear that and. Both Columbus and city columns and the kind of board supervisor, then they basically have similar language of you would just. At least consider it may not change, but but my, um. Rational basis for it in that amount if even if we don't do that full amount just an increase amount above $15 would help To offset an administrative cost to be involved in that cause it's gonna fall on on the staff and what is very limited Hopefully you and the board at least will consider it if you didn't get change at least we'll have the dollar a year.

Thank you All right, this is opportunity to open it as a public hearing I Anyone wishing to speak either for or against, now would be the time. We generally have 15 minutes for for and 15 minutes against, so I will allow the... We'll go with whoever starts. If you're against it, then we'll start with 15 minutes against.

Okay. Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. We won't count that.

We have an air. I'm Christina Kilcrease. Thank you. We have an Airbnb across the street from us, and we have worked with the manager, and everything's working good. My big problem is the garbage, and nowhere have I seen anything about the garbage. The garbage can is filled at 11 o'clock on Sunday when the tenants leave. It's overflowing. There's stray cats. The raccoons, the foxes, whatever animal you have, gets it in. And we're not able to clean up the boulevard anymore. Then the wind blows, and the boulevard is full of trash. So some way, somehow, this Airbnb puts their garbage can on the street, and I have written two complaints about it, and I'm tired. And it sits on the sidewalk. The garbage, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that has an Airbnb that the garbage is not being taken care of. So that needs to be addressed in this some way because we want to keep the town clean.

Thank you. I'm going to put you down as an against for the moment.

A what?

Against.

Well, I'm not against the Airbnb. The Airbnb is fine. I just need that added to your ordinance so they take care of their garbage in the proper manner. I got it. Okay. It's not just left in an overflowing garbage can on the street for three days. I got it. That's what I need. All right. Thank you.

Informational then. I appreciate it. All right. Anyone else?

We should speak to the short-term runner. Short-term runner. All right. Sit down.

Well, my name is Laurel Lynn Rouse I wish to speak in favor of the amendment. I did have one question I did mention to Alderman Skinner earlier. Please check the Mississippi code section that correct. Seem to me it might have been repealed but I could be wrong about that But I do in general Support this I think it's really important because we are a city that has a unit University SEC University right next door in the county and As you mentioned we have a lot of rental properties, which I believe should Contribute taxes the same as the hotel Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else?

All right. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. The board will not be taking action on this. This is our first public hearing. We will have another public hearing at the next board meeting, which will be the opportunity for the board to then take action if it so chooses at that meeting, which will be the 21st. All right. Our next is a public hearing for 21-19-11 on property 3334 North Malls.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Board of Aldermen. I'm here today to present a 21-1911 on 334 North Longstreet, Darkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 1180-00-032.00. The first owner is according to the tax deed is May Rainer and the first inspection was done on May 4th 2026 from the roadway. Here you can kind of see the sagging of the roof and the picture doesn't show too well but there's also some rotten fascia and siding. The letter of violation was sent May 26, 2026 to the property owner, and an administrative warrant was signed by Judge Kelly on June 22, 2026. The pictures of the warrant show a better view of the sagging fascia and soffits and the sagging of the roof along with some rotted siding there. The back of the house has some loose siding and some damaged siding there as well. Here you can see the back porch area has some separation of the stairway. The roof is sagging here showing that the back porch is in a state of a collapse. You can see the damaged truss that holds the foundation and some footing there that holds the foundation of this back porch area. The inside of the building has several cracks throughout the ceiling walls and floors. Here in the kitchen you can see cracking in the ceiling here. Here you can see a truss that holds the roof coming through the ceiling a little bit showing that the ceiling is in a state of collapse. Some more cracking in the kitchen area where the ceiling is sagging. In the bedroom we have a hole in the ceiling and some major cracking here. In that same bedroom, you have a major crack in the walls showing foundational movement along with cracking in the ceiling here. On the floors in the kitchen, you have cracking and floor damage here. more sagging soft spots in the floor. This image here is trying to show a foot-sized hole that's underneath the carpet. If the carpet was not there, you would fall through. In the same room there, a photo was not easily showing it, but the floor is also leaning towards one side. A public hearing was posted on City Hall June 23rd, 2026, along with a public hearing notice being mailed to the owner that same day and posted on the property all on June 23rd, 2026. On July 6, 2026, a re-inspection of the property from the roadway was done where it showed no change in the property where the roof still sags and you still have damaged fascia and siding there. Does the board have any questions for me?

board have any questions? Have you talked to the property owner?

No contact to the property owner was made. Upon the warrant, residents in the house were contacted and made aware of the public hearing.

Is the property owner in the audience?

I'll open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to the status of this particular building and our declaration of it being under 21-19-11 of public health, safety, and welfare minutes such that the property should be cleaned up? Anyone wishing to speak to the board? Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Discussion from the board. Do I have a motion? I have a motion from Alderman Vaughn. I saw a hand. I have a question. Okay. Well, let me get a second first. Second. Second from Alderman Cooper. All right. Now, Alderman Orland.

Was that the property owner had not been contacted or had not spoken to him?

We contacted him. Mine was more of a personal contact question. We contacted him through the tax notice in the ways that we normally contact. But I just wondered if he had conversation. I was just looking to clarify that. Yeah.

And the officer mentioned that he'd spoken to the residents. Are there people living there? There are.

Come back up if you would please, just so we can hear your voice.

Yes, ma'am. There are currently two people that are presently living there, staying there. I'm not sure if it's under a rental or not. The owner of the property, though, did not reach out to us in response to our certified letters we sent. to her, so contact to the owner of the property, as far as conversational-wise, was not made. But the residents were made and notified of the public hearing being tonight and everything, and as well mailed to them as well.

All right, thank you. Anything else? Mr. Harvey, while we have you? No? Okay. Any other discussions?

I have a motion from Alderman Vaughn and a second from Alderman Pogo. If you would, please. No, we don't have to do that. Everybody's here tonight. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Alderman Vaughn. Next item on the agenda, if we'll pass anything, is the claims docket. Do I have a motion? I have a motion. Motion from Alderman Brooks. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Skinner. All those in favor, please speak up by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

Nay. Nay.

Motion carries. Thank you. All right. Next item is number three, request authorization to hire Stephen Kackelman as associate city engineer, project manager in the engineering department. Do I have a motion?

Move approval.

Motion for all of them. Do I have a second? Second. Second from all of them. Brooks? Any discussion? Any discussion? All right.

Seeing none, all in favor? Aye.

Nay.

All right.

Thank you very much. And that takes us to executive session. Do I have a motion to go into executive session? Approval. I'm sorry, closed session to then determine the need for executive session. Approval for that. Thank you. I appreciate you. Second. And a second from Alderman Vaughan. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate you being here this evening. We're going to go into a closed session to determine the needs for executive session. So we do appreciate you being here. If you would clear the room for us. Thank you so much.

All right, is that it? In executive session, the board voted to sell a small piece of property that was in error due to a survey error. It was being encroached on due to a survey error.

I need a motion. I'm going to call the work session. In accordance with the notice as required under the Mississippi Code Annotated 2541.13, the board will have a work session on Friday, the 17th of July, 2026 at 11 a.m. That meeting will be held at City Hall, 2nd Court Conference Room, located 110 West Main. Notice should be provided to this work session within one hour of this meeting by posting such notice at City Hall. The notice for the work session will be made a part of the minutes of the board meeting. The work session will be an open public meeting of the City of Starkville and the public and press are invited to attend. Do I have a motion to recess? So moved. Thank you all. I move on to a second. Second.

Second.

Second from Alderman Poco. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? We are in recess. Thank you, everyone.