Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

We are Facebook Live for our board meeting. This is our first board meeting of the month of August, and we will begin with calling the meeting to order. We'll stand, please, for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an invitation to Alderman Vaughn, and then a moment of silence.

Good evening, Heavenly Father. Good evening, Lord Jesus. Good evening, Holy Spirit. Good evening, Heavenly Family. The Almighty, all wise, all knowing, all powerful, seeing, hearing, understanding God. Again, Father God, as always, here's this man on the board for your handmade service that you allow the community to be led. Lord, again, we thank you so much. We thank you and we pray now, God, that you will just guide all our thoughts. And Lord, let us be concerned about those that are less fortunate than we are. God, we pray that you let God every decision that we make, that it will glorify you. But most of all, God, we pray that you let Luke in our hearts, that we look at our people's hearts. And Father God, we just thank you. We thank you for loving us. And Lord, I thank you and your praise and all in all and glory to you, God, just because of who you are and why you are. God, I pray now that you will bless us with the right decision, the decision that will glorify you and not man. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Thank you, everyone. We appreciate you being here this evening. For those of you who may be used to our agenda, you can take note of the fact that we're trying kind of a new format, so all the things that are at the beginning of the pages, up to page... What is this? One, two, three, four, about page five are items that are currently labeled to be on consent. And so, again, this is a new format and we're trying to get used to it here. But as it stands right now, we are at a point where I need to ask for approval of the official agenda with the consented items and to see if there are any changes to that. I'll move on. Any changes? No, ma'am. Thank you. Vice Mayor Perkins.

Yes, ma'am, Mayor. Thank you. Mayor, I want to remove three items from the agenda tonight. I want to remove items under Mayor's Business B1 and 2. Okay. And I want to remove item number one under F, Human Resources.

Under F. All right. Let me put it over here. Okay. There we go. All right. So those three items will be removed from consent. Any other changes?

No, ma'am. Mayor, thank you.

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

No, I do, ma'am.

Thank you. Alderman Skinner?

No, ma'am. Thanks.

Alderman Sistrock? No, ma'am. Thank you. And Alderman Moore?

Yes, ma'am. I would like to add under utilities item one.

Under utilities item one is consideration of approving an advertisement for outage management system OMS proposals for Starkville Utilities. Yes. Any objections to removing or to putting that one on consent? Any objections? All right. Seeing none, we'll put that one on consent. So do I have a motion to approve the agenda with the consented items as modified? Move approval. I have a motion from Alderman Polkup. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Skinner. No further discussion. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right, motion carries. Thank you so much. And with that, I will make my way through the new agenda with reading the consented items. First, we have consideration of the minutes of the July 17th, 2026 work session of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starville. And we have consideration of the minutes of the July 21, 2026 recess meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starville. Number three is consideration of the minutes of the July 24, 2026 work session of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. of the city of Starkville. Read the whole thing, I'm sorry. And then under mayor's business, we have item three, which is consideration of advertising for bids for a two-year contract for mowing of University Oddfellow Cemetery, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Highway 182 Oddfellow Cemetery, and Brush Arbor Cemetery. Number four is consideration of the resolutions authorizing the lot mowing liens for parcel number 1180-00-3383. which is located directly north of 307 West Main and 200 Curtis Street as provided in the attachments. Number five is consideration of the resolution authorizing the lien for 245 Ruth Road as provided in the attachments. Six is consideration of authorizing the staff to advertise for bids for the replacement of flooring and carpet at City Hall. Under Board Business, C1 is consideration of calling for the public hearings on the 2026-2027 budget and tax millage for the City of Starkville. Under Engineering, we have D1, consideration of approving just compensation offers for construction easements for six parcels for the Spring Street North Phase 2. TA project for the total amount of $10,230. Number two is consideration of approval to advertise for the concrete term bid project. Number three under engineering is consideration of approving task order number eight for Neal Schaefer, Inc., For Tibby Watershed, draft FEMA map review for an hourly not to exceed amount of $18,000. Under Finance and Administration, number one is request approval to purchase Next Request FOIA software from Civic Plus for a cost of $12,288 for the first year with an annual cost of $10,788. Number two is request authorization for the city clerk's office to advertise for sources of supply for the street and sanitation general city for the period of October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. Under human resources, we have number one, I'm sorry, number two, which is request authorization to promote Lisa Carter to the position of assistant city clerk, deputy clerk in the city clerk department. Three is request authorization to rehire Tony Sykes as a part-time concrete finisher for the utilities department. Four is request authorization to hire Joshua Bacane and Eli Clark as apprentice lineman two in the utilities department. Five is request authorization to hire Jeannie Roach as a customer service representative in the utilities department. Six is request authorization to hire Percy Burnell as temporary part-time custodian in the city clerk and sanitation department. And seven is request authorization to hire Jamie Johnson as street maintenance worker one in the street department. Under information technology, number one is request approval of a lease agreement with C Spire for a Cisco WebEx cloud hosted phone system for the low quote price of $2,976.50 per month. Two is request approval of a warranty renewal for Dell equipment from Next Step for the sole source price of $25,684.00. Under Parks, number one is consideration to accept the lowest quote of $12,349.75 for Vingly stacking chairs from Amazon Business. And going on down to... Where's my page here? I got to get used to this. Okay, under police, number one, consideration of the approval to accept the 100% reimbursable fiscal year 27402 police traffic services grant in the amount of $15,642.70. Two is consideration of the approval to accept the 100% reimbursable fiscal year 27 alcohol impaired driving enforcement grant in the amount of $141,018.00. Three is request approval for the city of Starkville to apply for the fiscal year 2026 COPS Community Policing Development, CPD, micro grants program for a two-year project in an amount not to exceed $200,000 to enhance the Starkville Police Department's cyber crime investigation capabilities and unmanned aerial system, UAS program. The grant is 100% reimbursable with a 0% local match Starkville fiscal year 27 budget year. Under code enforcement, Under Mississippi Code Annotated 21-19-11-2 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 to be a menace to public health, safety, and welfare of the community and are therefore placed on the property mowing cleanup list. Number one is parcel number 118080. Under sanitation, request approval to declare a 2015 Freightliner Sweeper VIN last four digits 7450 a 2015 Mack front loader garbage truck VIN last four digits 3375, and a 2020 Peterbilt front loader garbage truck VIN last four digits 7239 as surplus and advertised for sale to the highest bidder. Under utilities, we have consideration of accepting the low bid from Gulf States Engineering Company, Inc. in the amount of $198,300 for the Josie Creek lift station rehabilitation material only. Request authorization to hire a Quincy, to declare a Quincy Air Compressor Serial Number 114009-200 located at Montgomery Water Treatment Plant as surplus and donate to the construction carpentry program within the Millsaps Career and Technology Center at Starkville High School. And three is request authorization to accept the low quote from EMSS in the amount of $12,950 for a non-potable pump for the wastewater treatment plant. And then the other item that was not on consent but has now been placed on consent is consideration of approving an advertisement for outage management system, OMS proposals for the Starkville utilities. All right. Did I get them all read? All right. Thank you so much. You got them all. My pleasure.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. All right. Under announcements and comments. We have National Night Out, which we're doing a little advertising for here at the podium. This is occurring at the Sports Flex tonight, right about now. And I understand they have a petting zoo. It's a very... It's a very wonderful event. I think we have all kinds of participation. All of the public safety folks, the fire department, the police department, the MHP, everybody is out there. And we always have wonderful vendors. So I think we're probably all going to go out there after this is over with. But in the meantime, I think there's lots for folks to enjoy out there. So we'll make that little announcement for that. And then I will cease on that. Alderman Vaughn, anything you wish to announce? No, ma'am. Thank you. Vice Mayor Perkins.

Yes, ma'am, Mayor. Thank you so much. Mayor, I'll announce to you when I yield the floor, but three different things, Mayor. Let me mention the first thing to our Honorable Mayor. Mayor, as a very respectful follow-up to my communication with you about the residents on Chickasaw Street and Rolling Hill subdivision with all the Vehicles there, I was under the impression that would be making it way to the. Board on our agenda for consideration. As of this afternoon, about 245, I was still informed that. The particular address, which you have. 63, those vehicles are still there. And I've gotten a number of. Communications and complaints about those vehicles still being there. Would you please check on that? And maybe we can get that on the agenda that resolution that Matt is not being resolved. And so that number of vehicle that are continuously there, I think there's some remedy on our ordinances. We're going to address that. Could you do that for us?

Yes, sir. I didn't want to interrupt you. Yes, I think there's already a case that started on it, but I will see where it is in the process.

Could you keep me informed, Mayor? Absolutely. Greatly. Thank you very much, Mayor. With that being said, I want to recognize a couple of our department heads. And when I ask to recognize, I like for them to approach the podium so we can all can be very professional continuously in my recognition. Mr. Smiley, would you and Mr. Honorable Chief Ballot come to the podium, please? Just want to recognize both of you, please. Mr. Smiley, I'm going to start with you. No particular order. I just want to take this moment and opportunity to just commend you for your excellent leadership with regard to the operation of your department. I always see your staff on assignments, regardless of the season, including this season of this superior hotness and this high-level humidity. And it's very evident that they understand who their leader is and they understand what their expectations are. Your staff do a very exceptional job in keeping our city clean. They always, that I'm aware of, getting the garbage picked up in a very timely manner. cutting the grass, manicuring the grass. And these are workers that even my constituents bring to my attention that are just out there in the heat of the day. And some of us can't even just stand and walk outside to get in our vehicle, much less working in that type of weather. And I just want to take this privilege and opportunity just to say thank you for your commitment to ensure that your team individually and collectively continue to spotlight our city. Because we all understand, the department head, that if someone's garbage is missed, if one street is not mowed, that you will hear from them with all deliberate speed. So just want to just personally just say thank you for all that you do and just thank you for serving as our department head. And we thank you for your wealth of experience and that you are just leading and guiding and training your staff in a very immaculate way. For all those things, I want to say thank you, and I would like for you to just share that with your employees who come to work very dedicated, very diligent, and even when I see single employees alone, meaning they're by themselves, they're on assignment. They do their job, and I really appreciate that and respect that. Thank you, Mr. Smiley. Honorable Chief Ballot, I want to take this opportunity and say thank you for your exceptional leadership. We are very fortunate to have you as our police chief of this city. I have traveled throughout these towns and cities throughout this great state of Mississippi, and it is hard to find a police chief that matches your caliber. I often read about and see where there are at times comparisons that are tried to be made of Starkville. And no one can better say this of those who have personal knowledge. You know, I've been living in Starkville all my life. And except for the five years I was in Jackson working with the House of Representatives and Attorney General's Office and Department of Corrections. But you do a very thorough job. You are very excellent in your leadership and you have a very dynamic team. Your team understands their assignment at all times and they perform very professionally. They perform with class, dignity and honor and they are sharp on their feet. And your leadership is so transparent. And I'll repeat that again for emphasis. Your leadership is so transparent in your briefings and in your information. And we appreciate that. And you are so intellectual about getting the facts and understand the moment. and getting the information to the press and the community who likes to emerge on the scene with hopes of finding something to report about. But you get the information out to the city, to the community, to the press, and to the public in a very correct manner. And hopefully people will realize that you're gonna get it right all the time. And your officers are so well trained. They're so well versed regardless of who is the initial one on a scene. They are fully equipped with it, with training, knowledge. They know what to do. They make decisions. great decisions. They understand what you have trained them and you have done just a superior job in keeping our city safe. What I want this state and others outside this state and even those here in case they do not know, this is not a relatively safe city. We are a very, very in a very, very safe city. I say that because I have personal knowledge. So if anyone on the outside say it's not, then I think matter of fact, personal knowledge is going to prevail in a court of law. And so with that being said, Chief, you keep it safe. I see the college students, the young ladies, the young men sometimes together day and night because I'm at my office all the time. I'm there. I see the young ladies. They're walking. They're safe. In the morning times earlier, they're safe. At dark, they're safe from students, Mississippi State. They don't seem to have any fear about them. Even when they come out of the Rick's Cafe, they walk across the street, they're safe. Why they're safe? Because they know we have a great police department who's here to serve and protect. And the great thing about Starkville, what a lot of people don't realize, you remember, Chief, when we talked about the envy out there in the mayor's absence a few years ago, I told you, Channel 9, they try to get me what's been the most important thing that I've witnessed and struggled with. I told them what I would like to respectfully and professionally talk about tonight. You said it, Lieutenant Lovelady. I said, I want to talk about our police department. You remember that, don't you? Yes, sir. And that's what we talked about. And that's what I'm talking about tonight. So we have cameras throughout our city. And thanks to the mayor and this board, you know, following your leadership on that, we're going to continue to do that. We're going to continue to be safe. And in this community, we have a zero tolerance for crime. So the crime is committed. the zero tolerance and the greatness about it, Chief, you get the investigation done. It doesn't take you forever to get an investigation done. And when you get it done, you come out with a press release and a press conference, and you inform all of us so meticulously, so comprehensively, so thoroughly, so efficiently. So that's what separates Starkville from other places. You know, we are vibrant. We are growing. We're a safe city, our parks, our downtown, our economic development. So there's no comparison with Starfleet or any other place. We know how to do it. We're one team, we're one family, and we're one unit. And I said all that broad discussion. Whenever the vice mayor says something, there's a reason. And but it all shines a great light on you, chief. And we appreciate that. We appreciate the the very great and excellent leadership in your team from the from the officers to all the way up to the top command. You have a great intelligence center. I mean, whatever you need, they know how to put it together. I mean, all you have to do is speak it. When you speak it, you know, you heard the saying, when you speak, people listen. When you speak to your staff, they listen. They understand. And that's the greatness about that. So, Chief, I want to say thank you for all of your exemplary work. And the Vice Mayor, It's not doing this to take up time. We have to say these things to say thank you because you keep us safe. You know what to do. You know how to do it. You give it to us accurate and it's fully transparent. And we appreciate that. And thank you for your service. Thank you for the assistant chief. Thank you for all your command staff and your entire team. And we're going to continue to be one family, work together, be safe, continue our intelligence center, our cameras. We have over 50,000 people in this city daily. You keep them safe. They walk the streets. These young ladies walk the street. Young men, they're away from home. And the parents send them here. Why? Because they know that we are safe. And we don't tolerate crime here. And if somebody committed a crime, you know what to do with it. And we thank you for that. And, Mr. Smiley, thank you for your work. And thank both of you. Mayor Eel, thank you.

Thank you, guys. Thank you.

I hate to follow the vice mayor because mine's not near as serious, but it's my first annual plug for the Sturgis Bike Rally. It's coming up on the 20th through the 23rd, so I'll get one more shot at everybody before the rally. But just real, real briefly here, the rally committee led by Mayor Bean, Sturgis Mayor Bean, has been meeting since pretty recently. effectively right after the last year's rally. And I think it's going to be really ramped up this year. There's stuff for kids to do. It is a bike rally, but we've got stuff for kids to do this year. We've got music vendors. I'll get into that more in two weeks. Of course, we've got the Friday ride that comes through the middle of Starville and ends up out at At Clayton village, and then down to Louisville, and there's stuff like a poker run and a comedy act and all sorts of stuff. But, but I think that, you know, all the towns around here benefit from this, even though it's in Sturgis, that's like to be our county. But but. You know, people come in and they stay here and start with our motels and they, they eat here and they go to you poor and they go to math and they go to Louisville. So, it's, it's a big, it's a big event for the, for the whole area. And I'm, you know, I'm, I'm proud to be on the committee and do what little bit I do, but we are looking forward to it. And again, I'll elaborate a bit more about the actual music. Vendors, but it's the 20th through the 23rd starts actually on Thursday night with the band and then Friday night in the Saturday that ends up Sunday morning. On the 25th, the 23rd of August. So. Well, I talked to the chief about that, but I think we've got to do what we did last year because I've looked through here and it's just going to be tough to make this any of this work. Don't you agree? It's just going to work better than doing that. But next year, next year, we're going to go right down Main Street.

That'd be great. You just want to provide a route when you do it during the next couple of weeks just so everybody can watch for it.

Yeah, that's right. So thank you, May and I, and you.

Yes, sir. Almost here.

No, ma'am. Thanks.

No, ma'am. Thank you. No, ma'am. Thank you. All right. Thank you. With that, we will move into citizens' comments. Anyone wishing to speak, you have three minutes in which to do so. And we are always delighted to see you, Mr. Turner. How are you this evening?

Doing all right.

Good.

All right. Good evening to the mayor and board. My name is Alvin Turner Ward 7. To the mayor, to the police chief, to the fire chief, sanitation, and to the NACP president, Reverend Jepson. To the police department, we are praying dearly that we hope that what happened a few weeks ago never happen again. We're dealing with a different generation now. They are influenced different ways. Our young girls, please, please, don't push A young man to the point of whether he'll kill himself. Young women, please, please, don't push a young woman to kill herself. Me and all my friends, we come up with the old school. Thin line between love and hate. Walking the back street crying. That kept us silent. We live in a world now where no one cares about nothing. Only what they can get. But with that, young people, please, please, do not drive one of us to that dark place. And on the 15th of this month, we will have our annual NACP banquet at the 16th session. But we continue to plan that we can, some way or another, reach this young generation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Turner. Anyone else? Anyone else? All right. Seeing none, I will close it for citizens' comment. Yes, sir.

Good evening. My name is Jashon Conyers and I just have, I guess you would call it a concern as far as what we were just recently speaking on. If there was any type of way that we could expand on possibly any youth programs, after school programs, mentorship programs, as far as, you know, obviously kids are just going back to school. They're going to need more routes as far as when they go home. There's hours in between when they get off, you know, when their parents are there. We're saying that there's you know, there's issues that there is, you know, there's violence that goes on. And I think one of the main issues that it is that they just have a lack of outlets for them to go to. They have a lack of programs that they can and the ones that they have is very. Because they're very thin budgets that they have to operate with. So it's keeping them from being able to do the best that they can or offer the most services that they can for the year. So I think it will be beneficial for the city if we could, you know, if there's any grants that they're going for, if the city will be able to match those just to give them more programs to be able to use. instead of going the sports route, which not every kid is going to be able to participate in sports. So things like programming or broadcasting or anything of the sort, just giving them more routes to be able to use. So that way it's not a full-blown way to curb youth violence, but I feel the more options that they have, the less likely that we'll have to worry about what are you for doing outside of school.

Thank you, Mr. Collins. Thank you. ANYONE ELSE? ALL RIGHT. SEEING NONE, I'LL CLOSE IT UNDER CITIZEN'S COMMENTS AND WE HAVE PUBLIC APPEARANCES. MR. CHRISTOPHER THOMPSON OF START GRID VOICES HAS A PRESENTATION HE WISHES TO MAKE UNDER OUR PUBLIC APPEARANCE HEADING.

GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND BOARD AS WELL. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR INVITING ME OUT HERE AS WELL FOR THIS PRESENTATION ABOUT A NEW ORGANIZATION CALLED START GRID VOICES. Thank you, Art and Von, as well. So basically, this is going to be very brief as well. I mean, I take the whole 10 minutes. I have a little one, two-year-old, who want to get to bed for their pregnancy as well. So we're going to leave after that to go out to the sports place. But in case you have heard in our... On Facebook, there's been a new group called Starkville Voices. Around May, the conversation came up where I would say the last minute of last year started thinking about a way, how can we inform our public? How can we inform people who want to run for office or people who are elected officials? What's going on within our city and also our surrounding communities? Through that conversation with family and also through other leaders in the city as well, In May, we began to launch a group called Start Real Voices. Start Real Voices was first launched as a page just to spread event information and also information that's going on within City Hall. But since May, that page has grew tremendously to God be the glory as well. But think about it, we have did, and this PowerPoint is going to basically take us to what Start Real Voices has started with and what's going on right now and what our future plan is leading forward.

Can you help?

Yes.

No, I was seeing if Hunter could help.

So this is basically Start Real Voices. And the first thing I want to say is that we are proud that effectively yesterday we became a nonprofit organization in the state of Mississippi as we are operating up under their guidance and their rules and things of that nature as well. We believe that this step will help us better serve our community and do the things, the initiatives that we have planned going on for the years to come as well. So here we have our final board of directors, myself, we have Mr. Ivan Jackson, Dr. Shannon Tillman, Ms. Laura Lynn Rose, and also T.J. Green. These group of individuals are here. We're going to have our first meeting within the next couple of weeks to basically formalize what our bylaws are, things of that nature, and how we can continue to serve our Starkville and also surrounding communities. So the question is, why Starkville Voices? Because somebody will say that, why do we need another page or another organization to tell us about what's going on within the community? Starkville Voices, I will always say that it was not just created for one person. I never want to be that one sole person with Starkville Voices, but it was created for the group around Starkville Antelope County and surrounding communities to come together to have a voice. First off, to inform people what's going on, to inform people about the board meetings, about the board genders, and also things that's happening within our city that really impacts people's lives. And the second one is to empower them because we believe that once people have information, they are then empowered to start making change. So once they become empowered, our last model is basically to be engaged. We want our people engaged, attending board meetings, We want the board meeting rooms to be full, even in person or online, so that they can understand what's going on with their lives and with city things as well, or the county things as well, but also engaged by voter registration. So I'm glad that we're going to be partnering with EndoACP in the future to start doing some voter drives in neighborhoods and also a host of several more things as well. So once again, our mission is to inform, empower, and engage. And I will tell y'all that this platform is working so far from things that we have heard. Yes, the good and the bad along with it. Last week, I was in Tupelo at the Create Foundation talking to them about another project that's going on with my family. or my full-time organization, Fiberize Health Surgeons that I help out with. But the same sense, Ms. Susan Bowman had came up to me and said, hey, basically Monroe County is dealing with some things about their local government and some things going on there. So on the 26th, I'm gonna be going to Monroe County to talk to them about a framework to grassroot and basically to build a civil organization or just a civil group so they can really start to impact change. So I will tell y'all that what's going on in Starkville, not just with Starkville Voices, but with the city of Starkville and also with our two-yard county is being seen, not just in our county, but also across Mississippi as well. So indeed, that's our mission as well. And when we get this thing going and I continue to go, we want to be able to go around and inform people, talk to them about how to really get involved in decisions, not just local government, but also state government and also being able to vote things of that nature as well. So one of the questions, what do we do? Our biggest platform right now is going to be Facebook. And we have a YouTube channel as well. So, many of our things, when we first launched this thing, we started this thing by doing community conversations. We wanted people to really just learn about what our leaders are doing and then what can they give our people as well. So, our first interview was with Mayor Lynn Spurrier back here in May, and she did excellent talking about what her job was, what the city does, and what does the community have to do to be a part of the process as well. Our second one was Mike Tiger with the Chamber of Commerce. And then our last one has been with Dr. Tana McGee. This month, we have one with Ward 5 gentlemen. And on this month, we're going to be hoping to reach out to the police department just again so that we can have people to really understand what's going on. And in the future, we're going to be doing one with MSU Athletics. I'm in a conversation with Zach right now talking about what kind of things does the What does football and letters bring to Starkville? Things of that nature for our benefits as well. But you will not always see my face behind it. This is just the first street. My goal is to have our board and our community advisors, a part of Starkville Voices, come in to ask those questions and talk about this historic conversation as well. We also have a town hall that we're going to be doing with Mayor Lynchburg and also Board of Supervisors Marvelle Howard, owner 15 at the Neiman Center. So I want to thank Mr. Gregg and Starkville Park and Ritz for their partnership with that as well. So the impact, so far we have reached thousands of community members, a greater awareness with local government, partnerships with community leaders, and also we're seeing the interest in civil engagement. And if you realize we're starting to reverse this page, like what we're doing, we're trying to practice not in a negative way, but in a positive way. How can we get more engaged, but not by just talking about all the bad, but at the same time, we're acknowledging the bad, but how can we change it to be positive as well? But also, we want full transparency, and we ask that through our community conversations with our city leaders. And we thank God that since May, that has been happening, where our leaders come on and say, hey, this is what's going on. This is how it's happening. This is what the community can do. So looking ahead, what's next for Starkville Voices? There will be a span of voter registration, GRI, ambassador, volunteer network, scripting engagement. One thing that I'm planning right now is y'all know me from Boys and Girls Club, my former job. So next year, I want to partner with some organizations to get something small going before I age eight through 12th grade so that they can learn about local government, state government, things of that nature. like a real like a little small summer camp but you will hear more about that as the year go on a host community conversation not just having one with the mayor and the board president uh for that's about kind of supervisor but also doing coming to y'all awards and say hey would you like to partner with start with voices to do a small town hall for just your award as well uh and i also want to uh highlight ottoman uh william for Polka for doing it as well, with his as well, where he hosts his own town hall. So we want the conversation to be for our people in Starkville. And then the last one is basically share a local leader story. Not just our community leaders, our elected officials, but also if you have somebody in your community who you want to highlight, put a spotlight on, just like what the City of Starkville does in a more or less way, we're going to be going by to say, hey, let's highlight these people and also these businesses that are doing the work in Starkville. So, once again, thank you all for what you all do. Just like I said, again, I wanted to come and tell you all what's the true impact of Start Real Voices, and that's only to inform with factual-based information, empower, and engage our community as well. So, thank you all.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. We appreciate that.

Appreciate it, ma'am.

All right. Next, we have our public hearings. The first is a public hearing consideration of a variance 26-06, which is a request for a fence height requirement located at 11 Sanborn Way. Mr. Havilland.

This is VA 26-06, a variance request by Amanda Puckett from a fence height requirement within the front yard at 11 Sandthorn Way within an SD2 zoning district. The applicant is requesting the fence primarily to provide additional privacy for the rear of the property and to allow for some landscaping room between the porch and the fence. This is the plat that they've produced for the property. So it's on a corner lot. This little notch out right here is a back porch. If they were to follow the requirements, the fence would actually be on the back porch and then go that way. What they would like to do is have it come out into the yard about 5 feet and then that would allow for additional landscape in between the fence and the port. The construction. On the fence had already begun and then the building official or one of the building inspectors spotted it and spoke with the homeowner. They immediately stopped construction, came to the planning office and applied for the variance. And so on this image, you can see the partially built fence view from Greystone, which is the side street that it faces. And then the other one is from Sanford, Santhorn, which is the street it's addressed off of. So you can see how it kind of sticks out about five feet. It's pretty much still in line with all the other houses as it goes down. As you know, there are criteria for variance review and approval. The special conditions, this is a corner lot with two streets, so both streets and yards are treated as a front yard. The condition is unique to corner lots and doesn't apply to interior lots. The literal interpretation, applying the height limit strictly would prevent the applicant from having the same basic privacy commonly afforded to the interior lots. Hardship, the applicant did not create this condition. This lot was platted before the UDC was approved or was in the process of being built and platted. And the corner lot configuration, therefore, it already existed. Special privilege, approval would not create a unique privilege. It would be addressing the constraints that are similarly situated corner lots, also experienced, but not the interior lots. Minimum variance, there is no other relief being requested from setback or location requirements or other standards at this time. Consistency, the proposal remains residential in character and fits the surrounding neighborhood and is not expected to negatively impact the adjacent properties or the public welfare. The request was noticed in accordance to the UDC by property owners are notified directly by mail. The request of legal ad was published in the historical dispatch on July 3rd and assigned posted on the property. As of this date, we've received 3 phone calls concerning the request 2 were just for information and 1 was against the request. I don't remember what the actual comment for against it was, but they did not show up at the board adjustment appeals meeting. The Board of Justice of Appeals unanimously recommended approval of those requests at the July 22nd meeting. Staff also recommends approval based on the variance criteria that we just presented. If there are any questions.

Okay, any questions on Brooks? You know it.

R3A, right? That's how this thing was played? I remember right?

Yeah, I think it was rezoned R3A. Yeah, that's the way it was. Yeah, okay.

So there's no problem with the visibility of the sight lines or anything?

Not on this 1, I mean, it's in the rear. I mean, it's, it's not toward the actual intersection. It's really close to being in line to the porch for the neighboring house directly to the North. So okay.

Thanks.

Any any other questions that Mr. haven't.

Yes, I should have mentioned that the requested height 6 foot. So it's about 2 and a half feet above what would be required or allowed in the front yard.

Okay, thank you. If there's nothing else, I'll open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak either for or against this item, now would be the opportunity, either for or against. If you would please identify yourself. Yes, ma'am.

I'm Hastings Puckett. My wife, Amanda Puckett, applied for the variance, and she was out of conflict today, so I'm filling in for her. Represented it real well. The gist of it is we've got Our son, he's a football player, and his three buddies are four football players that live and are staying in that home. That side porch just faces the street, and it was trying to provide a little privacy for them and for the neighbors. You got four college guys. They got grills and blackstones and cornhole and stuff on their porch and just being realistic, is probably not going to be kept as well as clean as you might want. That just provides a barrier for them from their mess and then some privacy when they're sitting there cooking or just hanging out. And that's kind of the purpose why we wanted to build that fence there. We wouldn't have started, we didn't know we were violating a code. We checked with like the neighborhood covenants and there was there was no covenant against it and uh didn't think to check with the city um regarding the code and so we weren't deliberately uh trying to violate uh code and when we were foreign we stopped and here we are applying for the variance okay thank you it was my bad i should have asked if the applicant was in the in the house here so

So your young gentlemen are going to be living there in the neighborhood?

They are there. Are they?

Okay. Just remind them that it's a residential neighborhood.

Understood.

All right. Thank you, sir. All right. Now, we'll see. Is anyone who wishes to speak to this matter from a public hearing standpoint? Anyone wishing to speak? All right. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Anything? I need a motion. I have a motion from Alderman Brooks. Do I have a second?

Second.

I heard a second from Alderman Pocop. Any discussion? Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed?

Nay.

Okay. All right. I'm sorry. Did you want to make a comment and I missed it? Had you wanted to make a comment and I missed it?

I just normally would you make a bad precedent like we did with the nine feet from

six feet to nine feet now we're going from three feet six feet we set up there we open the doors for something bad to happen okay i'm sorry please yell at me if you wanted to say something and i missed you my apologies all right thank you all involved no that was uh lisa did you get that four to okay thank you i'm sorry five to two thank you um all right second public hearing mr haveling you're still up for the sections of the unified development code

Yes, this is the 15th revision of the UDC since the adoption in 2019. It's 20 proposed amendments that can be classified into four different categories. Corrective, these are correct revisions to improve the consistency and eliminate conflicts with the code, clarifying setback language for form-based districts to better reflect the original intent of the code, and correcting some of the density conflicts with the cottage courts and removed MDU 20 and C zoning districts from the cottage court requirement. And this is stuff that was just kind of missed and wasn't noticed until we actually had somebody apply for the cottage court. And then we also are updating the reference to the solid waste section to the municipal code. It was pointing at the previous version. The next section is updating existing requirements. This is the largest group of amendments. Added a reapplication period for variances. This is pretty standard for all other public hearing type stuff like exceptions and rezonings. Clarified residential development standards as one detached dwelling unit per yard. Refined the Cottage Court's regulations on issuance of a CO to allow a CO to be issued if the unit is complete and the common area is complete. Updated the food truck use standards for signage and tent size. Applied or added graphics and clarified the language on pit standards. And clarified that garage parking counts toward the parking requirement for residential. There was one proposed update to the technical codes. This is just to eliminate the two-year residential permit and to bring all permits into just a one-year expiration period. The next slide, these are the new requirements. We added pole-mounted 5G equipment for special events. This is just something that's come about because of the technology changing a little faster than the code had. And then requiring pedestrian-scale lighting along the city's form-based districts. So this is areas like downtown, the Cotton District, Dr. Martin Luther King, where the project's going on, Lampkin. So it's kind of in the core areas. This requirement is in response to the Luma Tracker study that the engineering department did, where they found dark spots throughout the city as they drove around. And this is just to kind of bring up some minimum safety standards in the residential areas. The standard only requires a one foot candle on the sidewalk to give you an idea. That's about the same as a four watt plug plug in nightlight within a bathroom. So it's not a whole lot. It's not a big lift, but it does provide some extra safety in there. One of the other big ones is establishing the underground utility ordinance for new developments and redevelopments. This requirement is intended to make the city a little more storm resilient. Think it back to what happened during the winter with Oxford and some of the other communities north of us to kind of help us over time become a little more resilient to any possible ice storm in this area or wind storm. These requirements would include industrial uses, single and duplex residential uses, that are existing and then commercial uses that already receive power from the rear, like say, shopping centers like the Triangle Development. And the main focus of this as far as electricity lines is really just on the distribution and service lines. Those are the easier ones to put on the ground. It's not the transmission lines across town, which is one of the reasons we're excluding industrial use because those lines are carrying so much power and you need to be able to kind of adjust depending on what industry's coming in here. It's sort of impractical to put those underground. If there are any questions.

And most of our developers are currently putting things underground. Correct, yes. So that's not something that isn't being done currently, but this just codifies that.

Yeah, I don't actually recall any recent development where that was even an issue. It was just what they wanted to do.

Yes, sir. Alden Skinner.

I've had a couple calls in the last day or two on the underground transmission lines, and they're worried that by requiring that to be when houses are built, that that's going to push the price of housing up.

The transmission lines are excluded from the ordinance. It's just distribution and service. Okay. All right.

Thanks.

So any of the stuff that's real high power transmission, Mr. Kemp can speak more to that than me, but Put-Nose Underground is very expensive with fault systems and stuff like that. This is just distribution and service.

Okay. All right. Thanks.

Anyone else before I open it as a public hearing? All right. Seeing none, I will open this as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to this matter, now is your opportunity. Anyone wishing to speak to it? Anyone? All right. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion?

I move approval. I've done a good job on that. I commend you on that.

Thank you, Alderman Brooks. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Alderman Sistrom.

I concur that it's well done.

Okay. Any other discussion? All right. We have concurrence. Anyone else? Anyone else? All right. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

Nay.

Okay. Thank you. 6-1. Motion carries. All right. Next, we have a public hearing, which is our code enforcement. So, this is a 21-19-11 to determine whether the property located at 586 Curry Street with parcel number 118P-00-106.00 is in such a state of unemployment. This will be a minutes to the public health, safety, and welfare of the community.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Board Aldermen. I'm here to bring this 21-1911 to you for 586 Curry Street, Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 118P-00-106.00. The property owner on the property link shows Thomas Luther. And you can see here pictures from the roadway were taken on February 6, 2026. And you can see the overgrown vegetation in the front along with some loose and rotted siding from the side of the property there. Here's another look at the front of the property, kind of showing some more overgrown vegetation. The first letter of violation was sent February 9, 2026. We made contact with the owner, advised of a permit that he could get and apply for to do work or demo the property. The permit was not received. We sent a second letter of violation June 8th, 2026 to continue the process. A warrant to be done on the house was signed by Judge Kelly July 6th, 2026 and executed July 7th, 2026 by myself, Sergeant Gillen, Building Official McMullen. Here you can see the front of the property and the back of the property here with the stairs being rotted and unused. Got some separation here on the base. Alongside the house, you'll see several areas that are rotted siding, and this appears to be a joist that is rotting, which can affect the foundation. Here's more of the outer joists that are rotted, along with the missing siding that would cover that. Got more siding and exposed insulation on the sides of the house. On the interior of the house, you walk into the kitchen where you have a collapsed ceiling and another angle there in the kitchen as well. In the bedroom on the right from the kitchen there, you'll see collapsed floor where you can see some of the foundation there showing through. And you can see a little bit of daylight because there's a hole in the ceiling here going all the way through the roof. Back into the kitchen, there's this little walkway area where there's a bathroom. You'll see another hole in the ceilings here and through the roofs. Going into the bathroom, there's collapsed floor and you can see a hole going all the way through along with another hole in the roof there. A public hearing notice was sent on July 20th and posted at City Hall. It was mailed to the property owner and posted on the property for July 20th, 2026. A reinspection was done from the roadway by myself on July 31st, 2026, which showed a lot of vegetation had been removed by the owner, but no change from the exterior of the house could be seen. Does anyone have any questions for me?

Anyone have any questions? No one is living there. I feel like I don't even have to ask that question, but I will anyway.

No, ma'am. No one is living there to our knowledge. I believe the owner is here.

I will call up in a moment. I know that I'm just going to do a little anecdote here. So I was at the dead end of Curry Street because I wanted to look and see how close we were to the school. And I was going to walk down Apple Street and I looked to my left and I thought, I believe that's a house up in there. But nature had just absolutely taken it over. So I am I'm amazed that this is the vegetation has been cleared out that much that it's now visible in a way that it certainly wasn't earlier. So if there are no questions from the board, the applicant, I believe, is here or the owner, I should say. Yes, sir. Would you like to come forward? Tell us about tell us about your plans here.

How you doing? My name is Rodney Thompson. This is my father, Luther Thompson. So the property was owned by our family and it was passed down to my father. OK, at the time I was not in Starville. OK, so during this time, my father's 87 years old. he cannot clean that property. And since I came home, he turned around and told me, hey, you need to take care of this. So what you see has changed is my doing. And I'm a one person doing what you see. I am not trying to take nothing from the property being the way that it is. I just need time to finish the property. I'm trying to demolish the house and clean off the property completely to basically answer to what my father has asked me to do.

Okay, so you were going to demolish the property? Correct. Okay. What is the timeline that you believe you could complete that project?

As far as demolishing the house, I don't know because I don't have the resources to say who can come and do that, but I will be reaching out to different companies to actually demolish the house for me. As far as cleaning the property itself, I'm actually doing that myself. Due to the fact that the weather being as hot as it is, I I really try my best to get out there as much as I possibly can. But the front yard, I did that within two days, which takes a lot because a lot of that stuff is really thick and bonds are growing through it and everything like that. So I am not taking anything from what it looks like. But at the same time, I am in the process of cleaning that property off. I just asked the board to give me a little time to get that done and to bring it up to standard. Yes. Any questions from the board?

Alderman Baldwin. Yes, ma'am, ma'am. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. How y'all doing? Good. I overlooked that house, and I have seen houses. Somebody lived in that house over 20-some years or more. It had been a long time.

Yes, sir.

How much time do you think you need?

I know I can get it, actually the vegetation around the outside, I can get that done within a month. I just, I'm actually just one person doing all of that.

How much time do you need?

As far as the house, I would say another, maybe probably like two more months after that.

I think I'll take long on that.

And that's me guessing because I've never demolished a house before.

How much time do you need? Three months, four months?

Okay. So maybe the beginning of January to have it all completely done.

We have to have a public hearing first, so let me do that. But I do want to say this about that. You've got it all cleaned off now, or cleared off. Again, you've done amazing work to clear it off. My concern is that it is now visible, accessible in ways. A lot of people didn't even know it was there, obviously, because it was so covered up. But if it becomes visible and accessible, suddenly it becomes something that is an attractive nuisance. So I would encourage you to make every effort to... Screen it in some kind of way, or to get it down as soon as you possibly can, because it does become an attractive news. So any other questions of this gentleman before I open it as a public here all morning? Did I see your hand?

Yes. And I don't know what you're planning on doing with the property, but hats off because that's pretty impressive. I got to give you that. That's a lot of sweat right there. But I don't know if it's one of those things the fire department can look at if we cleared. what was above the house to where that didn't catch on fire to where they might could help with that too.

I didn't know if that was possible. I think it may be in too close of quarters, but we can certainly have Chief Davis take a look and see if it's something that can be burned.

So right there where that pole is to the right side, there are trees that are going through the power lines. And I would like to try to get those cut by the city so that I don't damage those power lines. And then from there, I can take those trees down and then possibly get the house demolished or burned or whatever the case may be.

Well, that will depend on what kind of power lines there are. We'll take them down for you to do the work. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Kemp. We will take them down for you to do the work. But if they're the heavier lines, the main lines, then we certainly will assist you from a tree standpoint. But we can remove the lines so that you can take the trees down. Is that accurate?

Yes, ma'am. We can take the service lines.

The service lines. That was the word I needed to tell you. Okay.

Yes, Alderman Vaughn. It's another house that kind of close to you, aren't you?

No. So to the left of that house, it used to be a house sit there. They have cleared that property off. That property is completely clean. And right, that's that one on the very, very end. I do have a question about the property line on that. From the right-hand side of that house goes downhill to where the school is. Yes. And then there's a fence. So I don't know whether that property, it belongs to the hillside, belongs to me, or does the hillside belong to the school?

I think it's a 50-50 proposition there, but that's one of those things that we can certainly help you look at. We have maps that will show at least a close proximity to it. What's what?

Okay.

Okay. All right. Well, if you will let me, I'll open as a public hearing and we will see if anyone wishes to speak to this matter. Okay. All right. Thank you, sir. Anyone wishing to, you can step back. Thank you. Anyone wishing to speak either for or against the finding of this piece of property to be 21-19-11 such that it is a menace to the public health, safety, and welfare? Anyone? Either for or against? All right. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion? So with what, Alderman Vaughn, what time frame?

What did you say, January 1st?

January 1st. Okay. I have a motion to approve the public hearing or the finding of 21-19-11 with January 1st as the deadline for the cleanup. And Chief Davis, would you take a look at that at some point and see what the possibility is, please, sir?

Okay. Do I have a second? Second.

I'm sorry. I will. Sorry, my head was turned. All right. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries. Thank you so much.

All right. Sir? How much time do we have?

Oh, yes. We will give you until January the 1st, and Chief Davis will get with you to see if it's possible to burn it And the electric department will look at taking the service lines down.

Thank you, Mary.

Okay? Yes, sir. All right. Next we have, and I'm going to do just a little bit so this doesn't feel quite so redundant for everyone. So we have four separate parcels of property. They all have the same address, so I don't want anyone to get confused. The same address is 305 Everglade, but there are four parcels that are included in that. So we'll have a little bit of redundancy about this, but we will go through this 21-1911 as well.

Good evening on this 211911 for 305 Everglade Avenue, Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 118J-00-074.00. The owner shows on property link as Brooksville Garden Group LP. It's going to be this little tiny parcel here.

And let me add a little further. I'm sorry to interrupt, but the reason this is a mowing, it's a grass mowing, but the reason that we have it under the 21-19-11 sub 1 is that the sub 2 only allows you up to $300, and this is a higher cost for this remediation. So I'm sorry, go ahead.

And it also includes trash as well in these parcels. However, this parcel... There we go. This inspection from the roadway was taken to see some of the tall grass that hadn't been cut. It was taken by Sergeant Gillen on June 24, 2026. Notice of violation was sent June 25th, 2026, and a warrant was signed by Judge Kelly July 14th, 2026, and executed by myself and Sergeant Gillen on July 15th, 2026. The inspection showed the tall grass around the areas here getting really tall. We had several complaints from the residents of the grass. Here you can kind of see more of some of the trash and how overgrown the grass had gotten. Public hearing notices were posted at City Hall July 15, 2026, mailed to the owner July 15, 2026, and posted on the property July 15, 2026. A reinspection of the property was done by myself and Sergeant Gillen on July 28, 2026, which showed the lots being completely mowed. And the trash was, it did end up cleaning up. Technology. That's why I brought paper copies.

Any questions for me on that one? Any questions of Officer Harvey? In that case, I'm assuming, is the owner of the property with us? All right, seeing that he is not, I will open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to this matter, it is 305 Everglade, and it is the parcel number identified as 118J-00-074.00. Now, I'll close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion? Move. I have a motion from Alderman Bond. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Alderman Cistron? Alderman. Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. And similarly situated for the parcel of 118K-00-016.00. Okay, we've got some IT help up here.

This next 21-1911 is for 305 Everglade Avenue, Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 118K-00-016.00. You can see from the picture here the grass issue we were having. The owner shows Brooksville Garden Group LP, and it's going to be this larger parcel here. Pictures from the right-of-way. A letter of violation was sent June 25th, 2026. A warrant was signed by Judge Kelly on July 14th, 2026, and executed by myself and Sergeant Gillen on July 15th, 2026. Here you can see some of the overgrown vegetation behind the residence buildings that they had to deal with. Some of the trash that has accumulated, more vegetation and some trash. Here's more grassy areas, just how tall it really had gotten. This dumpster here, just full of trash, no dumpster present due to them needing to repair some of the driveway area for the dumpster to be able to be placed back, which they did end up fixing. Going through a few more graphs. The public hearings was posted on City Hall July 15, 2026, mailed to the owner on July 15, 2026, and posted on the property July 15, 2026. Reinspection of the property was done by myself and Sergeant Gillen on July 28, 2026, which showed the lots to be mowed. Some of the trash was cleaned up. We still had some issues there to be resolved, which they later did. This picture was sent to us by the owner via email of that same spot there. Any other questions on that one?

Any questions of some sort? All right. Seeing none, I'm going to presume, unless they come forward, that the owner remains absent. So I will open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to it now is the opportunity, either for or against. All right. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion? I have a motion for Alderman Vaughn. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Alderman Poco. Any other discussion? All right. And this is to find that the Parcel located at 305 Everglade, 118K-00-016.00 is in such a state of uncleanliness to be a menace to public health, safety, and welfare. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. And on to the next one.

For the next 21-19-11, we have 305 Everglade Avenue, Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 118K-00-015.00. The owner shows Brooksville Garden Group LP. And it's gonna be this upper parcel here. Pictures from the right away that we took on June 24th, 2026 by Sergeant Gillen. Letter of violation was sent June 25th, 2026. And a warrant was signed by Judge Kelly July 14th, 2026. and executed by myself and Sergeant Gillen July 15, 2026. And here you can see some more well overgrown vegetation here. Some of the residents took it upon themselves to try and mow every once in a while when they could, so some of the grasses were lower. And you can kind of see some of the trash there as well. More pictures of the tall grass around the area. Here are some of the back of the residences. Just how tall some of that grass really got. Public hearing notices were posted on City Hall July 15, 2026, sent to the owner July 15, 2026, and posted on the property July 15, 2026. Reinspection of the property was done by myself and Sergeant Gillen on July 28, 2026. And you can see that the owners did mow the property. Is there any other questions for me on this one?

No. Just out of curiosity, do we know that Brooksville Gardens has a current manager on site? Or have they had a change in management?

So my knowledge, they do have a management lady on site. She's there every so often. She's there during the day.

She does not have an on-site respite. I was just curious because we have not gotten these, and I was wondering what had changed, if they had management currently.

All right. Any other questions? Okay. All right. Once again, assuming that the owner of the property is not here, I'll open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to this piece of property associated with 305 Everglade, now is your opportunity, either for or against. Seeing none, I'll close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion? A motion from Alderman Vaughan. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Alderman Poco. Any other discussions? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. And last but not least.

For our last 21-1911, it's going to be for 305 Everglade Avenue, Starkville, Mississippi, 39759, parcel number 118J-00-069.00. The owner of the property shows Brooksville Garden Group LP. We're talking about this lower right parcel here. Here's our pictures from the right-of-way by Sergeant Gillen from June 24, 2026. A letter of violation was sent on July...

Is it not the 10th?

It's dated the 10th. July 10th, 2026. And the... That's correct. So that way the warrant would be signed by Judge Kelly on July 14th, 2026. And was executed by myself, Sergeant Gillen, on July 15th, 2026. Which showed the... More trash accumulating and grass overgrowth all throughout the residence here. especially in the back areas were highly neglected. Public hearings were posted on City Hall on July 15th, 2026, and mailed to the owner July 15th, 2026, and posted on the property July 15th, 2026. The reinspection of the property was done July 28th, 2026 by myself and Sergeant Gillen, and it showed that the management did mow. Is there any other questions on me for this one?

Any questions on this last parcel? All those books.

Mayor, I've been trying to... gather my thoughts on this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this group bought this property about five years ago from an out-of-state New York group.

This is a Mississippi group.

They're, I think, based in Madison, and I can promise you that we're not going on in Madison. If I remember right, they came in front of us and made several representations of how they were going to Yes, they've clearly fallen short of what they, what they promised us. I don't know what what we can do other than find them for this moment. But this is. This is ridiculous.

Well, I think we have an opportunity at the next agenda item. We take up.

Okay. Good. These people that live there, they deserve better than this. They absolutely do. These owners made representations to us in front of us, right there, how they were going to take care of this property and change it and do better, and I'm not seeing it.

Yes.

I understand.

I agree. All right. If there's nothing else, then I will open it as a public hearing, once again, assuming the owner is not in the presence of them. board. I will open it as a public hearing. Anyone wish to speak to it now is your opportunity, either for or against. Seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. Do I have a motion? I have a motion from Alderman Vaughn. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Polka. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please send it by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. All right. Now, let's segue over to that next agenda item. Vice Mayor removed item one under Mayor's business from consent. This is consideration of calling for the first public hearing to adopt a chronic nuisance property ordinance. And this is to address pretty much the very thing that you are talking about, which is properties that continue to be outside the code and that do not respond properly. They have issues that are related to our police department spending an inordinate amount of their time in these locations. And that is the goal as it relates to this ordinance. This is basically, again, what I do, steal from other cities. This is a Tupelo ordinance, and we took it, modified it to reflect the things that are appropriate for the city of Starkville. The chief has looked at it, and I passed it to the vice mayor. Mr. Huskisson has looked at it. So this is strictly calling for the first public hearing in order to pursue the adoption of this. So we will have certainly a couple more. So vice mayor, since you removed it from the agenda, I'm assuming, or removed it from consent, I'm assuming you wish to speak on it.

Very briefly, Mayor, thank you for the recognition, as you correctly stated at the work session on Friday. The Vice Mayor supports the concept of this ordinance. I only removed it, and we'll see the same thing with the next item on down on the agenda. I removed it just to bring to your attention just a couple of, as you mentioned, the work session, some housekeeping things. Number one is I would like to, as we have the first public hearing, to clean up and remove all the language about the CAO, which we do not have, and the designee. Additionally and finally on that matter, Honorable Mayor, I would like to see the Board of Aldermen included in the language as to the process the current language speaks greatly and correctly about the chief police promulgating a report and as to who he should present the report to the proposed ordinance speaks to the mayor the CEO or the designee and I just like to see the ordinance clean up by the removal of the language of cao desi need the report comes to the mayor and board of aldermen that's the basis of removal i'm in favor of the proposed ordinance the very great ordinance just would like to see that housekeeping language clean up so it can be hopefully included therein when we have our first public hearing and i yield mayor thank you all right thank you guys mayor i put the cao in there because that position is still

An active we haven't we have not funded it, but it is still an active position. We did not delete it from our. From our ordinance that was that created it at the time and so I thought it was appropriate to have it in there. But if you prefer the board of Alderman, we can certainly draft 1 that reflects the ball and as a part of that process.

Mayor, may we recognize?

Yes, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor, is there any intentions of filling the CAO? That's why you wanted to stay in there? I'm unaware of any intention to fill the CAO position. That's why I was recommending what would be a removal. There's some plans to have that position filled. I'd like to be informed at this time. I only recommended that. And the event that we're not going to fill it because the position in vacants for a long time now. So are there plans to fill it?

Well, I didn't want to preclude it because I do think it's a position that is of value at some point in the city. And since it still has potential to be in existence, I didn't have a problem with that. But I have no plans at this point in time for us to do that.

Yes, ma'am. Well, the main thing is now if we can just include the Board of Aldermen report, it can come to the Board of Aldermen as well.

Okay.

Yes, ma'am. That'd be great. And that's why I removed it.

Absolutely. No, I understand completely. Sure. As I say, from my perspective, I think it's a position that will potentially have some value at some point in time. And since an ordinance lasts for much longer than many of us may, that was the reason I put it in there. But we can certainly draft it with the Board of Aldermen included. Okay.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

All right. Any other discussion? Yes, ma'am.

Since the Vice Mayor brought it up, I would like to address the $100 per day. Situation and that if that's something we need to talk about, you can certainly do that.

If you wish to see another. Derivative of the of the ordinance, but this is just calling for the 1st public hearing. But if but if you want to throw out something else, you'd like to see in there feel free and we can begin the process.

Okay. I just think what is it? I would like to. Put a heavier fine on it and I say that from we get from the board of Alderman affordable housing. There's no formal housing and start. We have affordable housing, we just don't have it to where people want to live because of the. The issues like this, and I think if we can. Make it a hefty or fine and actually make people pay attention. To some of the people that they have as tenants, it'll open the door up for more affordable housing for the people.

That's my my only my only response would be the 100 dollars a day if if because it's a come to the judge and if the judge finds that 100 dollars a day for the timeline, then it starts to add up. But again, he could the judge could do whatever he wants to do. If you want to put 500 dollars a day, you could do that. But the judge still has a latitude to. Offer that in in his.

Assessment of the case, and I'm good with 100 dollars per day. It makes the fine higher, but I don't want to show leniency on some of these. I'm sorry.

I don't want any leniency when it comes to that again. That would be the judge making that determination once it comes before his court. So. Okay, any, any, anything else. Then, can I get a motion to go ahead and have that call for the 1st, public approval of motion from all of our system? I'm sorry. Who was that? All right. Thank you. Further discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed? All right. Thank you. So we'll put that one forward. All right. And next we have the first public hearing on the Leisure and Recreation District Ordinance. This is, as it stands right now, our Leisure and Recreation District does not incorporate Lafayette Street or Jefferson Street. And both those streets are beginning to look at a redevelopment. And so I thought it would be appropriate for us to, while we're doing this, go ahead and expand that district. And it also calls for, at the chief's request specifically, a sticker that is part of the GO Cup so that the police are easily identifying the date that that cup was issued so that the effort to get around that GO Cup requirement is much more difficult. Unless they're going to go out and manufacture their own stickers. So that is the purpose behind that. Vice Mayor, I assume, again, since you took it off, that you had something you wish to share.

Yes, ma'am. Just for informational purposes, Mayor, I understand your intent. My inquiry to the Honorable Chair is... in this proposed ordinance i noticed that at the intersection of dr douglas l connor drive and 182 the current boundary line is on the east side of the intersection and it moves the boundary line from the east side to the west side on the school side of that roadway i just wonder what was the rationale for moving that boundary line at the intersection of Dr. D.L. Conner Drive and Highway 182 from the east side of the intersection and putting it on the west side. I just want to know what the rationale before we got moving.

Yes, sir. It was, from my perspective, it was to incorporate the Dr. D.L. Conner. I hope at some point in time the jail will no longer be there.

Okay.

And so there will be development that's associated with that that would include that street.

Very good. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, sir. Any other? Well, I do need a motion again. This is just calling for the first one. Move approval. I have a motion from Alderman Sistrunk. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Alderman Moreland. Now, any other discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. I'm sorry. Alderman Vaughn.

Would it be a wise idea to wait since we don't know how long before all that gets developed?

Well, as we are in the process of it and the development begins, I Until it's there, I don't know that there's anything that's going to go on, but since we were doing it, I always hate to come back and change and change and change again. So that was the reason since we were going to make a change to it. Okay. All right. Thank you. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right motion carries. And again, that is just calling for the 1st public hearing. So. All right. Now, flipping the page and going back to where I need to be here. Claim stock is the next step, I believe. Human resources. Did I miss what? Human resources. Oh, HR. I'm sorry. That's right. That was removed. My apologies. Thank you. All right. I can see I'm going to have some issues. I have to work my way through this. All right. Item 1F1 is consideration of approval to hire three additional firefighters and approve to start with fire department staffing and organizational restructuring plan. And... Chief, would you like to come up? Because I have a feeling your counsel will be sought. This was, in essence, a discussion at the work session, and it is certainly relative to our need for three additional firefighters that would hopefully offset our constant use of overtime in this fire department. So would you like to do a little...

provide a little more information than that that's certainly a brief overview then we'll turn to the vice mayor and ask him in particular what you might want to hear from yes ma'am as stated um on last friday we were we wanted to do a restructuring and we started with the adding three new firefighters and doing a promotion um that would include three lieutenants six sergeants and that would Offset. Well, actually, the cost that we're paying in overtime now is around $350,000 from October to now. And the cost of hiring three new firefighters is around $204,000. And the difference was like $145,000. So it will not totally eliminate overtime, but it would help offset it.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, I listened to the work session very carefully and the proposal from the fire chief is very involved. At this time in the fire department, of course, I'm going to try to move as fast as I can so those who may want to attend this event tonight. But he has, at this time, of course, we have the chief, the fire inspector. He has the executive administrative assistant. He has the training officer, the fire inspector, the fire marshal, three battalion chiefs. three captains, he has nine lieutenants, 12 sergeants, and 21 firefighters. The chief is recommending to us that he's only adding three, um, um, new firefighters and, and let me just respectfully say he's, in my opinion, very respectful and professionally, he's adding a fourth position because he is wanting to reclassify that fire inspector and chief. And let me just say, I know your intentions are real good, but let me just spend a few minutes on this honorable mayor and board. Um, My biggest concern about this entire restructuring is, in my respectful opinion, is enlarging the staff when we do not really need it, in my opinion. I say that very respectfully. The chief is recommending for a. assistant chief and i am a very respectful opinion that is staff heavy i am of the further opinion that he has the sufficient staff to operate the department without an assistant chief the assistant chief is going to cost this the city approximately 22 800 dollars additionally annually given the history of this department i'm not saying it won't work chief but given the entire history of this department since 1993 and as i understand before 1993 the command structure battalion chief has always been existence for except for a short period of time around 2000 and in that time between 2000 2004 when they're about four years roughly the The battalion chief has always been viewed as being the second in command, and that system has worked. And with the battalion chief and the structure of five different chiefs that I've been with, starting with Chief Johnson, that battalion chief has worked well. You have one battalion chief. duty per day and now you having at least 18 staff members per day so with the battalion chief that person has has gone out to the station and I've learned this from the chiefs through the years has gone out to the station has done all the work that an assistant chief would do And through the years in my consultation with the different fire chiefs, you have a very excellent executive administrative assistant, Ms. LaShonda Malone, who has a wealth of experience. She came to the city three months after I got here. And I know the chiefs and the team rely on her heavily. So those battalion chiefs, have really run the city fire department because, to a great extent, they go out to the stations and they report directly to the fire chief. And the city went at the recommendation at some point in the late 90s to that fire chief called Deputy Chief, which is you there at that time, Mr. Fire Chief, went to that Deputy Chief position. They called it the same thing as Assistant Chief, but it didn't last long. It didn't last long because it was determined that the battalion chief's structure was fine. Not saying that it won't work now, but it has a rich history of working well. So, and Enlarging the job description of the fire inspector assistant chief is basically seemingly with a good battalion chief structure. It's just seemingly bring about some unnecessary bureaucracy, like it was often stated at the budget session. budget meeting and the work session on Friday, it was basically made it clear that these monetary amounts going to have some impact on future budgets, the promotions. And there's no guarantee we're going to be saving money. It was mentioned Friday. There's not all boiled down to management and very emphatically stated that That is going to have impact on future budgets. So it just seemed like that that's going to be a waste chief about the assistant chief position. I've seen battalion chiefs. I've heard the different communication through the 33 years I've been here, but not saying it won't work. But is but the battalion chief structure has has been tried and tested. Because the late 90s, there was a discussion between that chief and his second in command, went to it, and then it didn't work like it was desired. And then we went back to the battalion chief. So I just think that something's not needed. As to your three firefighters, as to whether they're going to save money, we don't have any evidence that will. It looked beautiful on paper. It was well-written. It looked very flashy. But that's not to say it's going to save money. It's going to all boil down to leadership. I'm not saying you can't do it, but it's going to take some very sound leadership because in your materials, it mentioned that people are out for various reasons. Because if the budget's not managed, as was said at the work session on Friday, then you're still going to be dealing with the overtime. You mentioned about this $350,000 in overtime. So the savings, if any, remains to be seen. But my biggest point on your entire organizational restructuring, my biggest point, It's a lack of need in the vice mayor's opinion. I based it upon my having observed that system, the pros and the cons through the years. And I'm not just being arbitrary with you here. I just and hopefully you prove me wrong. But it is. And as I understand and talk with the chief, when I first got here, the first chief that I worked with had informed me that when I first got to the city that battalion chief structure had been in place. So hopefully it's going to be workable because it really expanded the cost of government. It really expanded your bureaucracy. I mean, this is a big cost you're bringing to us at times that people in our city are struggling to make ends meet. And we're increasing the size of government. And again, with the impact it's going to have on the salaries, the benefit that go along with it is rather enormous. Wow. Let me ask you this one question, Chief. I'm going to yield to the floor. What benefit are you trying to gain in light of the communication that I just shared by having this assistant chief versus the battalion structure? What's your answer on that?

Well, Vice Mayor, with the battalion chief structure, they are not there every day. And with the assistant chief, we will have that person there every day. When we are having things done, such as repairs to trucks, one battalion chief is on this day. Another one is on another day. The mechanic is talking to two different people to get a job done. And also with one person, such as the assistant chief, deputy chief, which have you, you got one idea. I'm trying to lead, going in a direction. I got one person. that I'm dealing with. With the three battalion chiefs, you got three individuals, you got three different mindsets, you got three different ideas, set of ideas that you're trying to bring it all together and get it going in the same direction. We're trying to move forward in a positive direction and we need the best help that we can get to make it to that point.

Mayor, let me ask one more question. I'm going to yield. Chief, very briefly, Since I have you here, I'm just going to be very brief, less than 30 seconds. Yes, sir. I'm going to ask you a question and you just give me an answer to it. I noticed that Station 5 is operational now. How long has it been operational?

Maybe about three weeks.

And is Station 3 closed now?

Yes, sir.

How long has it been closed?

At the same time, they moved from station three to station five.

Thank you.

Yes, sir. And just from to piggyback off the vice mayor, one of the things that from my position I have found useful is to be able to know who's in charge when you're gone. And that single person, that single point of contact, because I don't know who's rotating as a battalion chief at that point in time. So that's just one other element of that from a discussion standpoint or just a perspective standpoint. Yes, ma'am. So any questions? All right. Alderman Moreland, I see your hand.

Okay, so I'm a big fan of this because I've set in on every single budget meeting since you've been chief and we have tried to figure out a way to cut your unscheduled overtime. I do think that does that. And I know that the promotion piece, your guys have been acting up in that role going over here. And I would say Jonathan Wade as well. I know that Jonathan Wade might as well be the assistant chief. We're just making his salary match that. So hats off to the guys that you have over there. And I just want to say good job with what y'all are doing.

Any other discussion? I do need a motion. We should have done that first.

Move approval.

I have a motion to approve the consideration of the hiring of three additional firefighters and the fire department staffing. Sister, do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Skinner. I'm going to put a K by there so I know which S I'm dealing with. All right. Any other discussion? Any other discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed?

Nay. Aye.

All right. Now to the claims docket.

Move approval.

All right. Thank you. Motion to approve. Second. All right. One. And then two. Armand Brooks. Any other discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Nay. I'm sorry. Yes. My apologies. I could have waited. Yes. Yes, we got it. Five to two. I apologize. Moving too fast. All right. So we do need to have a motion to go into a closed. Thank you, Alderman Vaughn. To go into a closed session to determine the need for executive session. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Alderman Skinner. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Thank you so much. If you would clear the room. 25-41-13, the board will have a work session on Friday, the 14th of August, 2026 at 11 a.m. That meeting will be held at City Hall, 2nd floor conference room, located at 110 West Main. Notice should be provided to this work session within one hour of this meeting by posting such notice at City Hall. Work sessions should be made a part of the minutes of the board meeting. It 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? Thank you, Alderman Vaughn. Second. And a second from Alderman Polka. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? We are in recess.