Board of Aldermen - Regular Meeting

We are Facebook Live, which means I will call this meeting to order. This is our recess meeting of Tuesday, July the 21st, and we will first stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence.

Let us pray. Loving God, guide us in turning our prayers for our community into action. Help us to hear your clear voice and guidance amidst all the other voices around us. Grant us clarity of purpose in our work for our community. Amen.

Thank you, everyone. We appreciate everyone being here this evening and getting used to this nice full room. This is great. The first order of business will be approval of the official agenda with consented items. And so do any changes. Alderman Vaughn. No, ma'am. Thank you. Vice Mayor Perkins?

No, ma'am. Thank you.

Alderman Polkup?

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

Alderman Skinner?

No, ma'am. Thank you.

Alderman Cistron?

No, ma'am. Thank you.

Alderman Morgan? No, ma'am. Thank you. All right. Seeing none, I could certainly use a motion for the approval of the official agenda with the consented items.

Move approval.

I have a motion from Alderman Polkup. Do I have a second?

Second.

A second from Alderman Skinner. All those in favor, please signify. agenda items. First we have consideration of the minutes of the July 7th, 2026 regular meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starkville. Second we have consideration of the minutes of the July 10th, 2026 special call meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starkville. And going on to department business under airport, we have consideration of renewing the general liability and hangar keepers coverage for the airport. Two is request approval for five airport board members, operations manager R. Bushelhon, airport director R. Lincoln, and Alderman M. Brooks to attend the Mississippi Airport Conference September 30th, October 2nd in Biloxi, Mississippi at an estimated cost of $6,470 million. Under Community Development, Item 1 is discussion and consideration of FP 26-07, a request for final flat approval for North Star Industrial Park Lot 3, the southern portion of the Rutherford Road in an I industrial zoning district. Under Engineering, we have consideration of approving permission to apply for funding from the 2026 Advanced Transportation Technologies and Innovation Attain Program. 2 is consideration of accepting the public infrastructure of Country Club Estates Phases 3B, 3C, and 3D. Three is consideration of approval of the change order number three to the asphalt overlay term contract with Falcon Contracting to add a pay item for walking trail paving. Under Finance Administration, we have request acceptance of the June 2026 financial statements of the City of Starville. 3. Request acknowledgement of privilege licenses issued by the City Clerk's Office for the month of June 2026 by the Board in accordance with Mississippi Code 27, 17, and 501. 4. Consideration of the acceptance of the City of the Fiscal Year September 30, 2025 audit of the City of Starkville as prepared by Watkins, Ward, and Stafford PLLC. Under the Fire Department, we have consideration of approval of the low quote from Wholesale Laundry Equipment SE in the amount of $24,653.41 for fire, gear, washer, and dryer. Under Human Resources, we have request authorization to hire Hayden McKee as an inventory control technician in the Starkville Utilities Department. Two is request authorization to hire Jeremy Hill as a temporary sanitation worker in the Sanitation and Environmental Services Department. And three is request authorization to establish a landscape architect position within the Engineering Department. Under Parks, we have consideration of executing a design-build contract with Artisan Skate Parks for the proposed skate park at the Sportsplex. Under the Sanitation Department, we have request authorization to advertise for bids for construction of Starkville Class 1 rubbish site. Final closure of construction on August 26, 2026 at 10 a.m. Under Utilities Department, we have consideration of accepting the low bid for the water supply well number nine rebid project from SS Inc. in the amount of $3,457,850 and authorizing the mayor to execute a construction contract. Two is request authorization to accept the engineering services agreement with AG Utility Services LLC for electrical engineering and consulting services on an as-needed basis. And then number three is consideration of approval of the task order number six, amendment number one from Neal Schaefer for additional professional services to apply for state evolving loan fund, SRF, for the water treatment plant for well number nine. And that does conclude our consent agenda items.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. I'm happy to do that. Under Mayor's comments, I'm hunting for my, I get to introduce people, which is one of the fun things in welcoming people into the city as new employees. And this is always a nice thing to do in our meetings because we can put a face to a name and a position. So first I have in the police department, Chief, we have John Devereaux and we have Eric's wife. Are we here?

They are not here.

They are not here.

With them training at 6 o'clock this morning, flexed steel. And the miscommunication failure is probably on this. Well, so much for half of my fun anyway. All right. Well, next time. Oh, look at that. And you're turning red. I'm sorry. Okay. So next time. Okay. Thank you. All right. Utilities. Let's try. Edward, you got your folks. Great. Okay. So we have. Tiffany Allen joins the city of Starkville as a wastewater operator with Starkville Utilities. She has 10 years of experience in utility operations. I'm going to let everybody guess which one's Tiffany. She has 10 years of experience in utility operations and is excited to continue growing her knowledge and experience while serving the Starkville community. Originally from Sacramento, California. Thanks, ma'am. Tiffany earned an associate's degree in business management from East Mississippi Community College. She's married to Holly, and together they share their home with two dogs, Rainbow and Peanut Butter, and a cat named Pepe. Welcome aboard. We're delighted to have you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Hopefully Mississippi's not too much of a culture shock from California.

No, I've been here for a long time.

Okay, well, not to worry about you. All right, next we have Barrett Box. He joins the city of Starkville as a water treatment operator with the utilities department. Originally from Bruce, Mississippi, Barrett is a graduate of Bruce High School. He's married to Haley, and together they have two children, Dalton and Brixley. They have a white Labrador named Max, and outside of work, Barrett enjoys fishing, hunting, and working on small engines. He looks forward to meeting new people and building strong relationships with his coworkers and becoming a valued member of the Starkville utilities team, and we know you will. So congratulations as well.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. All right. And we had a really successful tournament this past weekend. We had a softball tournament, which I know was well attended. I went out there and the parking lot was full and lots of folks having a good time. So that's always a pleasure. And in the meantime, we are working our way through paving, which is challenging, but it will be done within the next three weeks to a month. Is that correct, Mr. Williams? Yes. And so we will all have nice, fairly new roads to ride on, and we will continue to improve all of that. And that does not count Main Street, and it does not count 182, but hopefully the rest of it will allow us to have a little rest. And I have nothing else. All involved. Anything you'd like to share?

I'm glad you mentioned about the overlaying of the streets because we got a lot of upset people saying we waited right good to school start back and then we start overlaying streets. We've been doing it for a while. I know, but it's time for them to go back to school. So there's a lot of phone calls and a lot of people don't understand how you have to schedule things. Number two, do you have an update on Sand Hill and Henderson Road?

Okay, that's going to be Edward. Mr. Kemp, have you heard anything further from Ms. Benson on the CDBG grant status, the environmental...

Will you check on that for me and see where we're at? Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Mayor. Very briefly, Mayor, I'd like to just take a few moments of personal privilege and to reflect back to this past Saturday. Mayor, of course, at your request, I gave greetings at a family reunion at the Sportsplex on Saturday morning. And the reason I'm seeking special privileges for recognition at this time, I want to commend the city's police chief, the Honorable Mark Ballot, and our assistant police chief, the Honorable Henry Stewart, for their presence at the family reunion. It's always good to see family members anywhere you go. It makes me feel at home, as I always say to my honorable mayor and my honorable colleagues and to the entire Starkville family. We are one team, one family, one body, and one unit. Honorable Chief, just step up. I want to just say a few things about you. Always good to hear good things. We have a lot of family members in the house tonight. And when family members are present is always good for our city. I just want to say just always like to when I'm on assignments and not on assignments to recognize. our department heads, our other employees, as the case may be. And just want to thank you for your presence at the family reunion on this past Saturday morning together with your wife. And you did a very good job. As a matter of fact, let me elevate that word. You did an excellent job in representing our city, including your department. And you did a very excellent job in giving greetings on behalf of the Stark Police Department. And in doing that, that also brought special recognition to the city of Starkville. So thank you for your presence. And you and I and your assistant, Armour Chief Stewart, we were one group collectively. And it is my very respectful and professional opinion that we all did a very exemplary job but and that's because each one of us made a very excellent contribution so that's how we always want our light to shine we want our light to shine from starkville all across these united states we want our light to shine from starkville all across this world we want the people to know that we're not only the best small town in the south for two consecutive years But we want them to know that we set the example. We set the example with professionalism to honor dignity, integrity, and class and character of everything that we do. So, Chief, with all those things being said, the Vice Mayor would like to say well done and appreciate your presence, appreciate your leadership, and appreciate all the wars you said and the families and all those in attendance were very appreciative. So thank you. Mayor Eel, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

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

No, ma'am. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. That being said, we move next to citizens comments. This is an opportunity for. Anyone, you have three minutes, which is timed by our very illustrious city clerk. And you may give us concerns, complaints, compliments, or general thoughts. Mr. Turner, always lovely to see you.

Good evening to the men's board. My name is Alvin Turner Ward 7. I'm going to have to leave after my coming day having a school board meeting. And I've become a fixture. If I'm not there, they won't know what's going on. But I want to thank for everything that have done. And just that Elsie and my sister Leonard, glad that y'all tried to take care of me, keep me out of jail. And that's make them sleep better at night. But I just want to say I appreciate everything and you all have a good evening.

Thank you, Mr. Turner. Tell the school board we worry about you too when you're not with us. Right.

right thank you sir hello my name is Andrew Langford I am here just concerning the Bitcoin Center I strongly oppose it You know, I'm a very simple person. I'm not well educated. It took me almost twice as long to get my college degree. I'm looking at a bunch of smart, important people right now. I think y'all know what to do. I think y'all know what's important for the citizens. The research that I've done sounds like each time one of these things comes to town, they come with whispers and promises, and they end up going a lot more than they intended. And it ends up leaving a bad taste in the mouth of the citizens. And we're here in that shockwave through the country right now. And so I hope y'all make actions that reflect that and reflect the people of Starkville. I'm not speaking just for myself. I'm speaking for... the people around me in my small bubble of life, you know, doctors, pilots, and simpletons as myself. Thank you all so much for listening.

Thank you, Mr. Langford. Anyone else?

Hi, everyone. I just have a question regarding Starkville's... Your name, please, ma'am. I'm Kara Snyder. Regarding Starkville's status regarding certain Mississippi state laws that have recently been passed attempting to commandeer local resources and funnel them towards the federal agenda for ICE, I would just like to know if Starkville has signed or has plans to sign what is known as the 287G agreement with ICE or any similar agreement. Thank you. Oh.

This is just an opportunity for you to comment.

OK. Do I have a few more minutes if you don't have a response?

At least two more minutes.

OK. In that case, I would just call upon the city and county leadership to reject, delay, and support, withhold support to ICE if and when it crosses your desk as a matter of protecting all members of your community. remembering that Mississippi's small and vulnerable population of undocumented immigrants, around 1%, brings vital work to our community, putting food on our tables and supporting the very work that this county is trying to put together. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else?

Good evening. How y'all doing?

My name is Larry Johnson, Larry Love. I'm common. I've been up here a few times about the 182 project. The mayor vetoed getting the driveway back open. That's part of the process, and I accept that. But the mayor did tell me that the city was going to maintain all the greenery and everything in front of my business. They cut the grass Friday. If you go up there now, it looks a mess. We're not even a whole year into having that greenery out there. And the weeds are already taking over the trees. I was promised this. I was promised that. Whatever the process was, I've been abiding by it. Like the vice mayor always say, I learned a lot by watching these meetings. We speak through our minutes, this board. You told me that it was going to be maintained by the city. I called my sister up, said she rode by the parking lot, talked about how beautiful it was. I want you to ride by there this evening and look at those trees, how the weeds are taking over. How many of you all get your yards cut, alone, taken care of, and they don't use weed either? Like I said, it was just cut Friday. I want you to go out there and look. Like I said, people say we always go to Facebook. I don't took the pictures. I've been taking them for weeks. They don't pull the weeds. If that's the case, I might as well have my driveway. At least it wouldn't be ugly. I mean, I have customers asking me all the time, love, you going to have to take care of this or the city going to take care of it? The mayor said the city takes care of it because I told you for 30 years I was paying to get the grass cut. The city came in, took over, said it was yours. I can count the time the grass been cut. I was about to come up here last year, but they yanked. The day of the board meeting, they cut the grass. That's the only reason I didn't come. Every time I say something, like I said, I said something about driveways and this and that. You said you made a mistake. Now all these codes and stuff that's on the book, I'm not even going to quote them. Because what I was told then that was on the city's website, was a mistake. So I'm not going to quote any of your codes because you know your codes and you know they're posted. But I want all of y'all to just ride by there and look at those weeds. Those weeds right here on Main Street, the way all this spending money on Main Street, y'all have a fit. Feel the same way about mine. It don't make no sense. Like I said, I'm at the beginning part of the process of this construction. I deal with all of it first. I'm with a bunch of weeds already going down the street, but I have to deal with it more so than anybody. I haven't said anything. I'm fed up with the city staff. Because like I say, y'all say one thing and do something else.

Okay. All right, Mr. Johnson. I am going to respond to that because would you, Mr. Williams, would you help share with Mr. Johnson what the issue is? And I will tell you for purposes of the audience that it is still under the control of the contractor. So it is not the city's yet. Mr. Williams, would you like to share just a little bit more of that for clarification, please?

Yes.

All right.

All right. Thank you very much. And what Chris has said is that the contractor is still in charge of it, and we have talked to him on several different occasions. And so he clearly is not meeting the requirements of that. If we take care of it, then we will adjust the contract accordingly. Is that accurate? Yes. All right. Thank you.

He's really nice. Now, I'm not going to take anything from the guys from College Springs, the one that's doing the work. I'm talking to everybody who's out there.

Yes. Thank you. All right. Yes, ma'am.

Hello, my name is Emily Stafford. I live in Ward 2. I just wanted to come out this evening and let you all know that I'm opposed to the crypto mining facility within city of Starkville. I have concerns about what it will do to the water usage within the city citizens ability to have reliable water and power as a result of that facility. And I don't believe that it will add value for the people of Starkville. So I just wanted to come out tonight. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you and let you know. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else? Anyone else on our citizens comments?

Yeah, name's Christian Flo. Word five. A lot to talk about today, potentially. I was tempted to dwell on whether waving a phone app around for a few minutes tells us something useful about living next to computing noise 24-7, 365. But time is short, so I'm going to talk about per-year Tennessee. We've heard a lot of stories about Per Year. The mayor was there in Alderman Systrunk. And it's the site of just the most unobtrusive, quiet, convincing little crypto mine made by the same developer that wants to bless us with one of our own. The mayor now says that this developer is called Starkville Energy Project LLC. And Per Year, it's called something like Per Year Electric LLC. Of course, it doesn't matter much because these names aren't meant to tell us anything. They're shell names on top of shell names. The proprietors have insultingly little to do with Starkville or Puryear. I'm going to leave it to our local journalists to follow their trail. Another story about Puryear is that there have been, quote, zero issues or complaints around the mine there. But it's weird. Local news from per year's Henry County reports a recent standing room only meeting of citizens warning against data centers. A per year city councilor, a mile away from the Bitcoin mine, tells me of being awakened in the middle of the night by a deep thrumming noise. The same official reports needing a translation app to speak with the crypto mine's few on-site employees. Then we've got a lawsuit which offers a view of a Chinese company with 24-7 access to the per-year facility and a picture of contention about the mine's operation. These, too, are all stories about per-year, complicated stories perhaps missed on the mayor's sightseeing excursion. Do they tell us that a Bitcoin mine will ruin us? They do not, but they say a lot about the discomfort of being involved with an industry that has very long tentacles, whose agents' names are unknown to us, whose motives are obscure, and whose pockets are deep. We can pretend that this discomfort is ill-founded and that all we need are easy dollars. I think that serves us poorly. If places like Per Year are going to be our model, then the board needs to investigate what is to be found there. The region is full of data centers that have not delivered on their promises, that are louder and bigger than expected, that muzzle city representatives that litigate their own will. Wealthy companies put a lot of effort into covering these things up, and I'm disappointed with those of our representatives who have chosen to read from their script. And I salute those, like the vice mayor, who have sounded an appropriate note of skepticism. I'll leave it at that for now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Fuller. Flo, is that correct? Flo. Flo. F-L-O-W. Got it. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else?

Sure.

My name is John Dick. I'm a resident of Ward 5, and thank you for being here. I appreciate you listening in some sense or other. I just wanted to say something else about this crypto mining center. Just two things. One is this issue about... um the secrecy with which it seems to be done you know we don't know who you know you watch the work session meeting and there's no names there's no numbers there's just a very loose story and the secrecy you know maybe you saw the a couple days ago andy gibson the state commissioner for uh business and ag released something about this typical secrecy with which these projects are undertaken and it seems that this project is no exception in starkville So this isn't hysteria. There's a fact about secrecy with which these projects are undertaken. That seems to be happening again here. The second sort of just a worry to register. It's just about the untrustworthiness, I think, about this kind of enterprise. I don't know about the noise. I don't know about the water. But I do know that these companies are trying to, you know, tender currency that's not the U.S. dollar. They're fundamentally trying to go against regulations. They thwart regulations and they're happy to tell people that it will be this big and then it ends up being twice as big. They tell people it'll be a crypto center and then it ends up being an AI center. It happens in Alabama. It happens in Texas. It happens in North and South Carolina. It's happening all over. So, you know, my first point is just there's a lot of secrecy here, it feels like. And the second point is that it just feels like a very sort of untrustworthy, you know, there's a lot of dishonesty, deceitfulness, double-dealing. And that's fine. That's what these companies are going to do. I would just prefer that we keep it farther away than closer to us. Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Mr. Dick. Okay, anyone else? All right, I'm going to close it under citizens comments and we will move to a public appearance. You gotta pop up, sweetie. Sorry.

Build up the nerve. I am also, of course, I mean, y'all know me. I'm talking about the data center as well.

And your name?

Edie Keenan of Ward 7. And I'd like to talk about the Tennessee Valley Authority. So I think an element that gets missed in these data center and crypto mining facility conversations is the fact that we are getting this power from somewhere. We are burning something somewhere to make this power. And the Tennessee Valley Authority specifically says that data centers and crypto mining account for currently 18% of their industrial load. And they expect that to reach 50% by 2030. And in TVA's 2026 integrated resource plan, they note that power demand had actually flattened over the past decade or so. And they note that it only started increasing again with data centers, crypto mining, and such, these very high energy utilizing enterprises. And they also seem in the same document to celebrate EPA changes, including regulatory relief for coal and natural gas generation, as well as a change to the 2024 Greenhouse Gas Rule Section 111 that repeals all greenhouse gas emission standards for the power sector. So this combination of a high energy industry boom as well as deregulation has led TVA to rely further on what many would call dirty energy via canceling decommissioning of coal plants and building new natural gas plants. And in context of this crypto mining facility, that means that the brunt of the real human health costs that we're going to be seeing from this facility are not going to be happening locally. They're going to be happening to our neighbors 50, 100, 150 miles away. We're going to be exporting these damages to other people and making other people sick. And some may say that this one facility won't make much of a difference, but these exact conversations are happening all over the country right now in all sorts of rooms, exactly like this one with people just like us. And these conversations add up. All of this adds up to massive amounts of pollution, massive amounts of energy generation, massive amounts of wealth being functionally reversed Robin Hood away from communities taken from the poor and given to the rich. in terms of like health effects and such. And I believe that we shouldn't be setting other communities on fire under the guise of keeping our own community warm. Thank you all.

Thank you, Ms. King. Okay.

Hello, my name is Nikita Gandy and I come from the county, but I do have relatives who are in the city. So I'm going to read here. I have a comment. The website I'm looking at is TotalLegal.com and it's keeping ownership of your LLC private. Which states allow LLC owners to be anonymous? Some states require a member-managed LLC to list the names and addresses of members, owners, and the articles of organization. While this is convenient when it comes time to open a business account, bank account, it may not be ideal. for the business owners who don't want their ownership part of the public record. In that case, I would like for when you do your articles of confederation or organization, I would like for you to publicly announce the names and addresses of the people who are part backing this LLC. I want public transparency, not only for the city, but also for the county. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Gann. Going once, going twice. All right. Closed citizen comments. Thank you, everyone. Next, we have a public appearance of Mr. Jermaine Banks. has put in for public appearance with the city for the topic of transparency around crypto, Bitcoin mining, the potential investors, and its impact. Mr. Banks, you have 10 minutes for yours, sir.

Okay, awesome. So my name is Jermaine Banks. I am Ward 7. So as I'm sure you've heard multiple weeks at this point, in opposition to the crypto mining and everything like that. So the biggest issue, I think, is, of course, going to be around transparency. My initial appearance was going to be on July the 7th. But I missed out because the deadline and everything like that. So it was 21st, which was actually planned out working perfectly because Miss Leslie of Ward 5 had a really great write up about everything that week. So it saved me from having to double speak on a couple of things also. And it also gave a bit of more information as far as the questions that she asked were answered. So the biggest thing is there's gonna be a lot of money being thrown around everything like that So that's why I feel that transparency on the matter is super important There's companies that are currently partnered with the TVA like clean spark bit deer spirit 3d and dark horse technologies and CleanSpark recently acquired Grid which has crypto mining current facilities throughout Mississippi as well as some in Tennessee and I was also trying to look into the per year crypto mining currency that you guys visited and I couldn't really find too much information as far as who they were as well as the one that's going to be here um like many have said before the only thing that they could really pull up on it was stark full electric llc i think it was so um it's already kind of suspicious and feels like they're kind of not really being transparent on that front as far as that goes because you're not really, you're more kind of like hiding behind various names and different stuff like that. So that's the biggest thing. Let's see, I know also, as far as the noise levels that were at the facility you guys visit, your phone does some amount of like, you can get some reading on it, but it, wouldn't be a great metric as far as actually knowing how hard or how troublesome the noise was. And it would also, of course, be a good idea to get input from the people who are directly affected by the noise rather than you guys jumping in, jumping out, whatever. You don't really get a real feel for anything like that. So it's always important to get the public's opinion on something like that, especially as far as something that's going to be essentially brought here to where we need to know how this is going to affect people and what actually is really going to be going on around the matter. Also, in regards to the... I think there was a conversation about comparing the water usage from the... uh concrete facility using um 50,000 75,000 uh daily and the splash pad using 60,000 daily um for that i would say those are things that we directly benefit from like actively like we need concrete to build buildings etc etc whatever we need concrete and the um As far as the splash pad goes, that's a positive quality of life for the kids and anybody else that wants to actually be out there. So that is a net positive for the community, despite it having that amount of water usage. It still is a positive for the community. As far as that goes with like a crypto mining facility, there's not really a direct positive for it. And granted, it is going to be its own separate entity or whatever, it doesn't really necessarily need to serve per se as a business or anything like that. But at the same time, it's important that there is feedback and the considerations of the people of the city are taken in with that. Let's see. All right. So also it was said that there would be no vote on if it will or won't come or whatever as far as like the people go but um as far as would there be the ability to have like a petition or anything like that to like have a pushback against that if enough people are like hey this is not something that we the people of the city would kind of feel comfortable having here or would want here um also It is also super important to, I would have whoever would be voting on it to get more transparent information on whatever entity is actually purchasing it. Because like I said, there's the companies that are like the Sphere 3D, Bitdeer and CleanSpark. they've all have crypto mining current crypto mining facilities within tennessee mississippi texas you know kentucky all of in that general area and all of them are also um making plans to upscale or to transition into ai infrastructure at some point down the line so it is there's um I think the new, let me see. Yeah, there's the vice president of finance for one of the companies is talking about, for CleanSpark, is talking about how he's planning to essentially buy more smaller mining facilities or have more mining facilities essentially transition into like HPC and AI facilities that way. Because there's money sure to be made in cryptocurrency, but like the biggest push for a lot of things now is AI data centers and things of that sort.

Anything further?

That's it for now.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Banks. We appreciate your input.

No problem. Also, I wanted to say if anybody wanted to do any further collaborations or anything like that or help me look into the matter further as far as the companies or anything like that, I have my email address on the papers that will be on the agendas and minutes and everything like that. as well as some papers that were in the back. So thank you. Thank you, sir. All right. Have a good one.

All right. We will move to public hearings. We have our first public hearing on the amending the rental housing section of the Unified Development Code to include short-term rentals as a part of revision number 14. What does that second public? I'm sorry. Second public here. My apologies. Mr. sort of put all this together. So I will let you.

Yeah, this is the same copy as was previously presented. It's mainly just a registration requirement. It establishes rules for local contacts for what kind of information needs to be included in the inside the unit, such as when trash should be picked up what the noise ordinances, what the parking requirements are. So for the most part, it's just a registration and then letting us know who to contact if there's an issue and for the tenant to know who to contact if there's an issue and if there's any questions.

Okay. Let's just go ahead and go through that. Some of the things that are part of that is having an occupancy load element to it and then posting requirements for inside and outside so that the tenant or the user, the vacation person, whoever, is able to know when the trash is picked up, what the police number is, Is, or what a phone call would provide some sort of reference that they could use to get in touch with someone and then we just had to change the definition. And then what is not there is the fine and fee schedule, which is an addendum to this that would then allow us to have that charge for the registration. and then for the renewal of the registration, the annual renewal of the registration. And to be really, really clear, and somehow this seems to get lost in this discussion, this is not imposing a new tax. This is the existing 2% that we have on our hotels. This is something that the legislature, the state legislature has now gone from several years ago, two years ago, they had a definition of a hotel as being six rooms or more. They then took it to one room or more, which is when the Airbnbs kicked in and when it became appropriate for us to be able to collect the hotel tax on Airbnbs, VRBOs, whatever else there is that's being used for these hotel-type stays. So that's what this, that's what this is intended to do. It's mostly intended for us to know what is being used as an, uh, as a hotel, though, even though it may be a residence, what's being used as a hotel in town. So any questions of Mr. Have any questions. All right. Well, then I will open it as a public hearing. This is the 2nd public hearing, and this will be an opportunity for the board to adopt this. So, anyone wishing to speak. either for or against, now is your opportunity. And we generally allow 15 minutes for either side. So whoever steps up first in terms of whatever you're in support of or against, then that's when the 15 minutes starts. So anyone wishing to speak to this matter? Anyone? All right. Seeing none, I'll close it as public hearing. And we will have discussion with the board. What I have done, there was a discussion about the rental housing and there was a little discussion about what to charge. And so the vice mayor had desired to have a slight bit more. And I had originally said $15. And so what I have in front of you is $35 for the registration fee for the first year and then $15 annually thereafter for the registration or for the renewal. So that is that and this ordinance is what is in front of me. Any discussion? Well, do I have a motion?

Move approval.

I have a motion from Alderman Cistron to approve the ordinance. Is that correct? Yes. With the fine of $35 registration and $15 renewal. Is that correct?

I can agree with that. Okay.

All right. So, do I have a second? Okay. I'll second. Thank you all. Again, I think no one wants to pass this, and I haven't talked to anybody that didn't. So, all right. So, we have a motion and a second. Do I have discussion? Do I have any discussion?

I'd just like to reiterate that this is simply a registration process. It does provide valuable information to the city and to the residents of the Airbnb, VRBO, whatever group is leasing property. It also just treats these consistently with other businesses in town. Okay.

Well, and we have a long-term rental registration, which is virtually identical to this. This is just simply the short-term, so that we'll know. And also, it may or may not inform us. We hear regularly about a housing problem. that no affordable housing. And one of the concerns is that the houses in our neighborhoods are being bought up and being used solely for Airbnb. And if that's the case, then that allows us to be able to understand that dynamic and perhaps have a better handle on where these things are going and how we can better sort through what's happening in our neighborhood. So anyway, I say that. So no further discussion, no questions, nothing. All right. In that case, All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries and it is unanimous. Thank you so much. All right. This will be the first public hearing on amending several sections of the Unified Development Code as part of revision number 15. Mr. Havilland, this one's a little more. This was the first one and a little more in depth.

Yes, this is revision number 15 since the adoption in 2019 of the UDC. There's approximately 20 separate changes that are in this that are wrapped in the four general criteria or categories. These are the corrective revisions to improve consistency and eliminate some conflicts within the code, like clarifying the setback language or form-based districts to better reflect the original intent of the ordinance. Basically, in that side setback, there's a zero-foot setback. The zero-foot setback is intended if you're next to another building, not if you're next to a vacant lot. So it's correcting that requirement. Correcting conflicting density requirements for cottage courts, that's a relatively new style of development. Now we're starting to see a couple of those roll in, and we realize there were some mistakes that were built into that code. So it's fixing some of the density requirements in some of the zoning districts that they're allowed in. And then there is also a reference to Chapter 94 in the solid waste section of the municipal code that needed to be changed since that section was updated and given a new section number. So there was no actual change. It was just a reference to it. The largest number of requirements is updating existing requirements. This is adding a reapplication period for variances, rezoning special exceptions, use exceptions, variances, all public hearings and they all have a reapplication period except for variances. This is just establishing one of those similar to the other request. And then clarifying residential development standards that one detached dwelling per lot. That is the intent of the code and it's implied, but it wasn't explicitly mentioned. Refining again, the college court regulations, allowing for COs to be issued on individual units if the common areas have been complete, and then also some additional requirements regarding driveways. Updating food truck use standards for signage and tent size. We had a couple of food trucks that kind of got out of hand with the size of their tents and some of their signage. And so this is just putting regulations on there, clarifying what's actually allowed. And then we added some graphics, language to the fence standards. That's the image that's at the bottom, kind of showing where short fences versus tall fences can exist. And then also adding some verbiage on how the fence is actually measured from natural grade, not the street, not proposed grade, but from actual natural grade. And then also clarifying just for in the future that a spot inside of a garage does count toward the requirements for that lot. So if you have a house that requires three parking spaces, you have a two-car garage, that's two in the garage and one outside. It didn't say that, but, you know, make sure it says it up. And then we also have one proposed change to the technical codes, and this is just to make all building permits expire after one year. As you can see in the red, currently residential permits are allowed to extend for two years. That's been problematic in a couple of cases, so it was determined just to bring it back to one year for all of them. And then finally, there's some of the newer requirements that are being added. One is a standard for pole-mounted 5G equipment. This mainly pertains to temporary facilities to service such things as like festivals or the Codness Arts Festival, the Derby. It's just a newer type of technology that wasn't really in wide use whenever we wrote the code, so it was just added in there as just another option. They actually used it at the Derby this year, and there was no issues as far as I know. And then also requiring pedestrian-scale lighting along the sidewalks in the form-based districts. This will improve safety and walkability. And this comes directly out of the study that the engineering department did last winter, the LumaTracker study, where they took a truck around town and they measured where all the gaps were and lighting to see how safe it was and where we can improve. And so this is one of the recommendations out of their department was to have something in here for form-based since the buildings are so close to the road. It's an easy way to kind of light the pedestrian area and make it more safe. And then lastly is establishing an underground utility requirements for all new developments and redevelopments. This requirement is intended to make the city more resilient to natural disasters like ice storms in the future. These requirements exclude industrial uses. It also excludes existing single and duplex residential uses and any kind of existing commercial use that receives its power from the rear, kind of like the shopping center that Aldi's is in. All their stuff is on the rear, so it doesn't really apply to what they're doing. And this is kind of modeled after several cities, kind of taking the best pieces of all of them. But if there are any questions about any other specific parts of this.

Any questions? Just one. On the parking requirement, your two-car garage has got to have three, because you can't have stacked parking. You're not allowed to stack parking.

In residential, yes, you can. You can block somebody else in. It's called tandem parking.

It's called what?

Tandem.

Tandem?

Tandem.

Tandem. Okay, thank you.

That type of parking is allowed for certain residential types. It's kind of the idea that you can block your spouse in and just play a little move-a-car game.

Okay, that's fine. Thank you. Make your spouse angry. All right, any questions that you have? All right, seeing none, I'll open it as a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak to this matter, now is your opportunity. And we will have another public hearing at the next board meeting. That will be the second public hearing. So anyone wishing to speak to this matter, now is the time. All right, seeing none, I will close it as a public hearing. And this is no decision for the evening because this is our first public hearing. So we will move to our next order of business, which is the consideration of a resolution to extend additional funding to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport Authority for the air service from GTR to DFW. An amount equal to 20% of the 300,000 dollars for an additional 60,000 dollars as a participating sponsor. Mr. Matt, would you like to come up and just do just a real brief. Overview, a little briefer than we did at the work session, please, just to perhaps be available to answer questions, if nothing else. Exactly.

Yeah, happy to answer any questions. The resolution, like the mayor said, is for 20% of the $300,000. This is for the second year of service for American Airlines, which now gives us options flying east and west out of the communities. It helped the airport have its record passenger loads of around 57,000, hopefully 60 this year. So trying to continue that and create additional pot of money if they need it due to the fuel spike.

Okay. All right. Any questions for Mr. Dallin or Mrs. Trump?

So this is the second, extending the last agreement to the second year.

There is no extension. I think there was a payment made in August of 2025, and I think there were three payments made this fiscal year. One, I believe, in November 2025, and one in January 2026, and one in May of 2026. Could you tell me how much those payments were on the budget share?

That's pretty impressive. Let me intervene here. Do you think I know that off the top of my head? Mr. Coronado just texted you that amount. Did he? Okay. I watched him on his phone.

So 96,000 this year? Both years, between the two years, 96,000.

Thank you. Mr. Executive Director, it's my recollection that the city of Starkville pledged at least $100,000. And we just have a factual determination on the record as tendered by the Honorable Comptroller for the City of Starkville and as articulated by our esteemed Honorable Budget Chairperson. And the wording of resolution also indicates that the sponsors, which include the City of Starkville, have approved the grant and we have also um paid our respective share and when we go on down into your wording of that um that resolution as the vice mayor recalls uh you are asking the um the city of starkville to pay an additional share because you're trying to get up to three hundred thousand dollars total he wants to pay twenty percent of that which is sixty thousand dollars And I'm doing the laying a predicate for this question. And you also indicate that you're asking the city of Starkville for this dollar amount due to unexpected and unanticipated. high fuel costs. Is that the basis for your request?

Yes, Vice Mayor. It is to de-risk the second year of service knowing that there are high fuel spikes going on so they can continue to operate without a loss for the second year.

What other additional funding does the airport receive apart from what you and the airport board have received from the sponsors to include the City Star? What are your other funding sources?

So, for the first year of service, we were able to get a DOT grant, but those are just one-year grants. So, we are continuing to talk to the state and others, but we currently don't have any other funding sources, which is why we're going to the communities as a last resort for this funding.

You did get an enormous amount of funding from the federal government. Is that correct?

In the beginning, yes, sir, for the first year.

And did that grant allow you to utilize a certain amount of that for operational costs to include for what you're seeking now?

No, sir. So the first year was $750,000. That was the DOT up front, like you mentioned, which was matched with the $500,000 that was raised from the communities for the first year. We've actually waived operating fees for the airline for the first year and now for the second year so that it doesn't add to their cost of operating.

Do you have in your budget, you do an annual budget, in your budget, do you have a contingency or a line item for fuel costs?

So this really, ours is to run the airport, the airline specifically. They're the ones who are trying to adjust their budget in order to adjust for the high fuel and operating costs. So ours, we can help market, we can offset their operating costs at the airport by not charging them fees, which we've done. But as far as the airline, they're the ones who are trying to adjust. And that's where the need for financial support in case of losses for the second year comes in.

Just a few more questions. In terms of operating a large-scale airport, and I understand in listening to the work session, and congratulations on the size, we are third largest in the state. Yes, sir. Jackson is number one, Gulfport is number two, and Starkville is number three. Do you and your board incorporate an expenditure in your budget to help with this type of cost as part of your operating structure?

That's a good question. So legally, as an airport authority, we're not allowed to help the airline, which is why we have to go to the airline. We're allowed to waive fees, but not actually financially contribute. Those have to come from our sponsors.

and um interesting point there um that you're not allowed to help airlines um you know the way i see it and i'm getting the question we have a lot of businesses here in our city and um and we don't you know just get these type of requests as this can to my recollection about helping with fuel costs, particularly on a commercial entity where an outlier can come in and they receive revenue on customer charges. Is the airline, as a matter of business practice, are they unable to incorporate and sustain whatever expense that is necessary and proper to enable them to operate and do business just like all of us to do business? Because fuel cost is expensive to everybody, even the taxpayers. That's a good question. Go ahead.

Yeah, it's a really good question. Yeah, airlines are unique, right? So there is an establishment period, and that's why these grants and the support for the first two years are there to begin with. It's because setting up a new service in a market where it didn't exist takes time. It takes marketing, takes people supporting and passengers being aware that that service is there and start utilizing it, which is why there's normally a period of establishment and grants out there and some local support in order to bring them in to de-risk it so that they can get established and then be on their own.

And let me say this, Mr. Director. I'm going to close on with this. Mr. Director, I want to appreciate you and your board for all that you're doing. I've flown out of your airport many times. As a matter of fact, I'm going to take a flight out of there in two months from now. But the point I want to make here is that in my tax payers, our constituents are of the opinion that businesses should be able to cover their own operating expense. If you're going to be an airline business, Delta, American, whatever the name, United, if they can't pay for the gas, that is an essential business function. then that does not appear to be a lucrative business. This is a very conservative thought of mine and some of my constituents. And I just know that even with the wording of your resolution, which is undisputed, the city of Starkville has pledged, and we basically met our— our pledge of $100,000, we'll short maybe about $3,705.20. And I certainly will support a motion to pay up to finish that pledge at $3,705.20. But let me just say very respectfully and professionally to you, you know, and... Well, I just say that the city has, in my opinion and based on my knowledge, our operation has a lot of needs and this money belongs to the taxpayers. And it is my very respectful opinion that if we have extra $6,000, we need to give back to the people that it belongs to. And I don't have any authority to give money out as a handout when we've made a commitment to $100,000 already. We've given roughly about $96,000, listen to the budget share, about $96,297 roughly. So we're almost there. We're in the red zone. And we're about to score. I mean, we don't need much. So if I had a motion. But, you know, I say this very respectfully. The mayor knows how it is. When we talk like this, this is just nothing adversarial. We're just one team, one family, you heard me say at the beginning of the meeting. And we all have ideas. We respect each other. We honor each other. That's what makes our city and our government so unique. You know, we understand that in this democracy, we accept others' opinions. So I just wanted to share that with you. very respectfully and I want to close by saying that I think this and am of the opinion that if the airline is going to be in the business it gets subsidies from the federal government and we should not be asked to give another subsidy as which is coming from the same taxpayers and I think that if this airline needs money for fuel costs I have constituents who need money for fuel costs. You know what I mean? So when they go to the gas pump and go to the grocery store, all these high costs, they can't come and say, well, we need money to buy gas and we need money to buy groceries. But I understand and I support economic development and I appreciate your presence here, but the line has to be drawn at some point. And I know the mayor, I watched the work session very meticulously, heard every word. You had a very high presence. Your team was there. Your lawyer was there. The link was there. The honorable distinguished member for my friend, Mr. Frank Child was there. And the mayor asked you basically in summation, you know, where are we going? And I get to read, you know, that, hey, if we and don't speak for the mayor, but, you know, there's some question that she had, you know, she asked and I do, too. But I wanted to have this dialogue with you very respectfully, not trying to drill you, not trying to give you a hard time, but the taxpayers need to hear this very respectfully. So I think we appreciate that Western line, but if they're going to contend, they need to take care of themselves. And you come back with another request, and we have the same communication. They need to take care of themselves like all the other hard-working business owners, these people who struggle to keep the business doors open. We have local mom-and-pop stores, Bell Building Supply. They're not airlines, but they serve their constituency, East Mississippi, people who are the bread of Montgomery, people who have spent their lives working and trying to make ends meet, paying the IRS their tax dollars and all those things. So I just wanted to say that, Mr. Director, and we're – certainly I respect you and I appreciate you and your team. You do an honorable job. Thank you. We need the jet bridge out there. We need the – we ought to tarmac in case it rains. I understand that. I'm familiar with the airport, so – And thank you for that. And but I want to say that. And my friend, Mr. Childs, hears me. You know how I am conservatively. So and I'm thinking that you're going to probably don't speak for the boy. You'll get your votes. But I just want you to hear from the vice mayor of my constituency and mayor. Thank you, man.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I'm glad you brought it up. So let's go ahead and brag a little bit just for the jet bridge. You've got a ribbon cutting on Friday.

On the 24th at 2.30.

2.30. Okay. So the jet bridge is up and functional. In fact, I got a text last night later than I would normally get a text from somebody who said that the jet bridge was up and they were so excited. Wonderful. Happy to know all that. All right. Any other? All right.

Since we've heard from the vice mayor with a very singular point of view there, would you explain to us, I understand what you're saying about it takes a while to build this type of business and that these guarantees that you're asking for are to help during that establishment period. Could you talk about what the benefit is to the city of Starkville of having a western flight? and what the risk is of losing that Western flight without additional funds?

Yeah, it's a great question. So it took us about 10 years to recruit American Airlines. So new airline service is historic for us. It's historic for anyone, and it's a competition. It means that Airlines saw the opportunity in the Golden Triangle at Starkville, that there was a need there to serve. So very fortunate to have them here, but it is an establishment period. It takes a lot of time and a lot of risk in order to start new service. What it means is that now people can come and go out of this community much easier. Students, faculty, business. can happen in and out instead of going out of the state, for example, at other airports where you have Alabama, you have Memphis, for example, where these passengers were leaving. Now we're able to serve them locally. So this is a local connection to make business, leisure, travel happen locally instead of going elsewhere. And those people are able to spend these dollars locally rather than going elsewhere.

Anything further on the system? No. And are we at risk of losing that Western flight without this?

There is a need for this. Otherwise, we would not be coming. And so, yes, they're needing this for this second-year establishment period.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Mr. Harmon Brooks. Well, just a couple of things. At some point, it buys jet fuel regularly, you know, almost every day. I can certainly attest to how much it's gone up. It's really shocking, you know, how much it is. Could you talk just a little bit about the occupancy load? I'm lucky that I get to fly private more than not, but I did fly out of there just the other day and I was on the Delta platform going east. I remember thinking that used to be so. Go East and come right back across the top and go try it when I'm going West. But, you know, your occupancy loads, I know the flight I was on, and then the American flight came in left shortly after hours and. And we were delayed because of the rain, so I think the jet bridge will take care of that. But, but your occupancy levels, I know that definitely that I was on was.

It's true. It's very full. Yeah, that's right. And we're trying to grow with them as well, but they haven't. So this is another way, more options for, like you said, already full capacity Delta flight. But we've gone from 70% load factors in our first year, and now we're getting into the 80s. Normally they want to be high 80s to 90 to start really making financial profitability. So they're starting to make year-over-year growth, which we're excited about. We're just trying to get them to the rest of the way.

So America is in that mode. They are, yeah. They're getting close to where they need to be.

Correct, yeah. They're making progress.

Right, and this is a two-year deal, so it's a secret swim.

That's right.

Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am.

Budget chair, if we approve this, where are the funds coming from?

They will come from the general fund, which will be a series of various things from everything from permits and licenses to sales tax to property tax. It's difficult to say these dollars are used to pay for that expense, but it's the general fund where the police are paid from and the fire department and you and I are paid from. Thank you.

Anything further?

And I would say, Alderman Bond, the good news is that we are in the process of developing our budget, and so we can plan for it as opposed to getting a request mid-year and having to try to find money for something that was not budgeted for.

Thank you. Anything further? No, ma'am. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. If there is nothing further, thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it. Appreciate your work.

Thank you.

Um, all right, I need a motion approval in stereo. I'll give you the 1st, all the books be the 2nd. All right. Thank you. All those in favor please signify by saying aye opposed. All right motion carries, thank you so much. And the last, I believe, but not least is the claims docket. Do I have a motion approval motion from all my sister? I've got a 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, all those in favor signify by saying, aye aye opposed nay. And the motion carries. And that takes us to the end of the meeting. And let me call for work sessions. And I say that in full. First, in accordance with the notice as required of the Mississippi Code Annotated 2541.13, the board will have a work session on Friday, the 24th of July, 2026 at 10 a.m. That meeting will be held at City Hall, the second floor conference room located at 110 West Main. Notice should be provided of this work session within one hour of this meeting by posting such notice at City Hall. The work session will be made part of the minutes of the board meeting. The work session will be open public meeting. The City of Starkville and the public press are invited to attend. And then in accordance with the same notice, Mississippi Code 254113, the board will have a work session on Friday, the 31st of July, 2026 at 11 a.m. That meeting will be held at City Hall, 2nd floor conference room, located at 110 West Main. Notice shall be provided at this work session within one hour of this meeting by posting such notice at city hall. The work session should be made a part of the minutes of the board meeting. The work session will be open public meeting to the city of Starville and the public and press are invited to attend. And with that, may I have a motion to adjourn?

Move.

I have a motion from all to move on. Do I have a second? Second. Second. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

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