January 20th uh council meeting.

Uh like to start off by uh the chair asking for a motion to suspend the rules.

So move moved by Mr.

Tisdale.

Second, seconded by Mr.

Creel.

Any discussion?

Yes.

Mr.

Marshall.

Yes, sir.

At some point when we start the vote for the uh adding items on the agenda.

I do have an item to be added to the agenda.

Okay.

That that isn't on our list today to add.

Um so the chair is not gonna recognize uh the chair to recognize.

I'm asking the chair to follow the law.

Okay, the chair will follow the law.

The law voted.

The chair is gonna recognize the item that's listed on the agenda.

We are in discussion, are we not?

We are in discussion.

Yes, we are.

Okay, let me read the law.

The law says yes, we're listening.

I know you listen.

Okay.

All matters to be placed on the agenda by any member of the city council shall be authorized by the president of the council as herein.

The council is a shall be all matters, shall be.

I submitted this to you.

I submitted it to this council.

I went through legal, I have legal notes.

I've done everything I'm supposed to do to get this on the agenda.

You decide it on your own, as if you're the king to decide that we can't put something on the out of order, sir.

Don't don't reference me as the king, please.

I I won't I won't let you know.

There's seven of them, seven of us up here.

Anyone else here decided the same thing?

Then you're not you're not a ruling party of one.

I'm just saying, is uh the next thing is don't be rude, sir.

Try to be professional.

Thank you.

I think it's very rude for you to take an item that's supposed to be that the law says I have the right to put on the agenda and not put on the agenda and then tell me basically you're gonna ignore it and don't recognize it.

No, sir.

I'm reading the law.

Please stop interrupting me.

You do not have the right to tell me how my tone should be.

That is my right.

Uh I'm presiding over the meeting, and I think I do.

If you presiding over the of this of this body as the president of this body, then you need to follow the law of this body.

The law says you shall, it says all matters to be placed on the agenda by any council member, shall be authorized by the president of the council.

Now we'll be considered shall be authorized.

It also says that the council president shall be required to place all matters presented by a council member as prescribed.

We're in in the agenda at the earliest possible opportunity.

You've had this for over two weeks.

We've known about this for over two weeks.

This started last year.

It was stated last year.

It will be placed on the agenda.

Coming to the next matter, which you're trying to confuse.

It says it all matters, which is two departments.

We are two by constitution.

We have an executive branch and we have the legislative branch.

You sir over the legislative branch.

That man on that table, the mayor, is over the administrative branch.

The law goes down to his responsibilities.

His response says all matters to be placed on the agenda by any member of the executive branch, which is that table over there, shall be authorized by the mayor as prescribed herein.

The mayor's taking the executive branch.

We're taking the we're taking the admin with the mayor's administrate, we're the we're the ones who're making the rules and the laws.

Okay.

When we're doing this, it says the council president and the mayor shall determine the items to be placed on the agenda for submission to the clerk.

It's saying since there are two departments, administrative and executive, the two of you decide based on who you over.

You are you're not over the administration.

But you are determining for the executive for for for what we're doing.

If you're not gonna do that as a representative of our body, as the president of the council, you're doing what he wants you to do.

The mayor cannot decide what we put on the council's agenda.

If you read this, it says here it's the account, this is the council's agenda.

It's not the mayor's agenda.

Is it the mayor agenda?

No, it says agenda for the Bloxy City Council.

All right.

Is your point made, sir?

My point is you don't have the right to ignore me.

Well, I'm telling you to respond to breaking the law.

May I respond?

I've listened patiently.

May I respond?

You you don't may I respond?

I'm asking your question.

I need you to respond.

I need to think why you break the law.

Uh if you read the rules, the rules also say that uh that the president will be provided a draft copy of uh a resolution or an agenda item.

Uh there was a draft copy.

There was actually a first draft copy, there was a second draft copy.

Uh the rules also say that legal has to have a chance to review it.

Legal did review one of the draft copies.

They recommend it that we have a workshop, and I tend to agree with that because of the this affects not just the councilman that is presenting this.

This affects all seven wards.

It seems to me it would be reasonable to first hold a workshop on asking the questions on how we set up seven different ward accounts and then take uh revenues that are coming in and collect it and how those are going to be spent.

There are strings attached because of the contractual uh complexities of this type of resolution, and it just seems reasonable for a reasonable man to say let's have a workshop.

We may learn something in that workshop, and instead of putting a flawed, potentially flawed resolution together, then put the resolution together next and then bring it to this council and let the council vote on it at that time.

And that seems reasonable to me.

So I received one copy, then I received another draft copy, and I understand there were conversations uh with some other council members on a third or fourth copy that was being considered, and then it was uh we fell back to uh what you're trying to put on today when legal has said this should or this this uh action should require a workshop.

So that's uh what I'm trying to achieve today, uh presiding over this meeting.

So I appreciate the conversation.

Uh the chair will recognize the item that's listed uh on our agenda for today.

Sir you you made a lot of statements.

I need to respond.

That's it.

I need to respond, sir.

Are you gonna okay?

That's it.

I'm the only one that's allowed to speak.

I have a comment.

That's it.

Um would the clerk read the um edition?

We still in discussion.

Oh, go ahead.

Sure.

So recognize Mr.

Tisdale.

Thank you.

So there's there's a timeline.

There's it's procedural.

It's a procedural aspect of this in terms of getting something on the agenda.

Uh it and it can be interpreted a number of different ways, I think.

It'd be great if it was a little clearer.

But basically, there's a procedure to be followed, and at some point uh it goes to legal, Mr.

A.

Biden, he reviews it.

And then it's placed on the agenda.

I don't I don't know that he may suggest that maybe there's a workshop, but the fact is if there's uh a resolution that comes that originates with one of us and it goes through legal, he he looks at it, he may make a suggestion or not, but it's the councilman's resolution.

Having said that, Mr.

Abe, that that that's procedural in nature.

Was the procedure followed in this instance to the best of your knowledge?

And then I'd I'd like Mr.

Marshall to uh uh also explain to kind of see if there was an issue that wasn't resolved where this happened or sure.

Thank you.

Uh I guess a week, maybe a week or so ago, I got a draft of a resolution.

I made some comments on it about not binding future councilman.

Uh given the nature that we're in the middle of the budget year, the amount of bookkeeping and accounting that would be required, and like you say, with strings attached, it seemed to be that a workshop would be prudent.

Uh I submitted that.

I never got anything back officially until 11 o'clock today with this version.

I've not really reviewed my notes from this to see what the changes are.

Uh I did spend a little time during lunch to look over the ordinances about the council's agenda and the procedures.

I did spend a little time during lunch to look over the ordinances about the council's agenda and the procedures.

So then you get to what is prescribed herein.

There's there's several other sections dealing with how the agenda is put together.

The agenda is it talks about there's um several parts of agenda.

There's we have the we all know about the policy agenda and the consent agenda.

There's also in 3.2 talks about the study agenda.

I'm not sure we've ever really done the study agenda here that much.

We've directed the planning commission to do things from time to time.

One of the things under the study agenda, which is at the end of the meeting, and it talks about it will consist of all motions for staff and legal review and study of drafts of legislation submitted to the president of the council as provided in 3.25.25, and that's a request for legislative action.

If any member of the city council wants to place a matter on the agenda, they will provide a draft of his request for legislative action during the submission phase of the agenda.

Submission phase is uh back on Thursday.

That's defined as back before the agenda is set.

So there was a draft submitted some weeks ago, but I don't know if it was submitted during the submission phase.

This draft was not.

But we're looking at 3.25, which is referenced in the study agenda.

And it states if a member wants to place a matter of the agenda, they'll put a draft to the council president during the submission phase.

I stated that.

So although I didn't really tune in to the study agenda a week or so ago when I suggested workshop, that was probably in the same ballpark.

Um I don't know if I really answered the question.

I I will say that this is uh it's a major piece of legislation.

It is legislation submitted by the council.

If we're going to set up seven uh different paving or working type accounts for each councilman, that needs to be analyzed, the ramifications of that, how we're gonna then procure each individual project from each of the seven wards.

There's there's just a lot of issues.

But the issue of whether this draft submitted an hour or two ago is proper, it may be proper to put on a study agenda, but I don't know if it's proper to put on the uh policy agenda.

So if if I if I may, um if this were in order to be placed on next week's agenda, uh whatever Mr.

Marshall's um legislation is or his resolution, that would have to be in your hands and in uh the council president's hands no later than Thursday of this week at 11 a.m.

Correct?

That's right.

Under the submission phase, that's the it begins at the opening of business on Wednesday.

It ends at 11 o'clock a.m.

the following Thursday.

Okay.

That's fine.

And how how many copies of Mr.

Marshall's resolution did you see?

Or were they dated and what was the date of the last one you saw?

I just saw what I was heard was the first draft, and and I've never seen any drafts since then.

All right.

So as far as as far as you know, there was one draft earlier, and then this second draft you got today.

Yes.

Okay.

Actually a third draft, but he only saw two of the three.

Okay.

And uh if Mr.

Marshall could comment perhaps on the based on what you just said, every every week that we come here, we find things that's on this agenda that's been substituted every week.

Every council session, you anybody can go back and look and see.

Now what we have here is a situation where this is something that the mayor is not happy with.

He is convinced our president who's supposed to be representing us.

Mr.

Marshall, you don't have to interrupt.

I'm gonna stop the if you don't like what I'm saying.

Somebody convinced me is you don't know what somebody has convinced me of.

So do not make those statements if that's just your your put it out like this, sir.

Well, I'm putting it out like it is.

I don't know, I wouldn't, if I think somebody put something in your brain, I'm not gonna make that statement.

Mr.

Glavin.

I followed all the rules.

This has been going on since last year.

This was tabled last year.

Okay.

Okay.

This right here was tabled.

So we're not bringing up anything that's new.

Okay.

If anybody had any reviews other than that, that that was a good time to do it with then.

Then bring it off the table, Mr.

Uh Marshall.

If it's table, bring it off the table.

Show me that table motion and request that that table motion be brought off the table.

That is not what you're doing today or attempting to do today.

So you want to table motion to bring it off the table?

If you if we tabled this, which I don't recall of tabling this, uh but what again, what I would recommend is what legal has suggested that we have a workshop and that we intelligently look at it with the administration and with uh people that are uh going to be responsible for these contracts together.

Then after we get that information, put your resolution together and submit it.

We're not asking anybody to put any contracts together.

No one is asking anyone.

You're you're correct, but they have input on how this may affect that.

That is way down the line.

What you're doing is you're trying to confuse the situation, just like the lawyer just said you're trying to confuse everything.

We're not asking for any of that.

We're only establishing accounts for the funds.

That's all we're doing.

We're not trying to uh uh spend any money, we're not voting to spend any money.

All that has to come back to the council.

All we're asking, and this was tabled.

Now, if you would give me time, I would ask, make sure the clerk find out the last meeting when this was tabled, or I would find it, and we can come back to it.

So can we do that?

You after this uh meeting is concluded, you can request that the clerk uh find that's tabled.

We did we didn't put it on the agenda.

It's tabled.

So if you want her to go research it, find the resolution that you are saying was tabled, then you can request if that's appropriate to bring it back.

All right.

Any other discussion on this matter?

Yes, sir.

Right.

Okay.

The law is very clear.

Okay, what we're doing here is we're making special rules throwing uh extra hoops to jump through because the mayor doesn't like something.

Okay.

We've never ever did this for any of the other things.

Every week we have a whole lot, even today.

We have we didn't see this.

We have agenda things that are added every week without having to go through the lawyers, without having to go through all these procedures, two weeks' notice, all of a sudden we got all these these time frames.

That's wrong.

I'm saying that it feels to me that you're not representing this council.

You only re to me.

Now you can't tell me what well you I'm not putting anything in your head.

You're supposed to represent you're the president of the council.

And you're supposed to represent the council to get what we as council members want on the agenda.

Okay.

Noted.

I think I've made that clear workshop resolution, vote on it.

I don't know why we want to bypass something that affects millions of dollars, and that it could be complex and that we want to put a hastily we've admitted that he's seen two of the three uh drafts have been put together.

And he said he read from the law itself, just as you cherry picked and read some of it your yourself over there.

So uh we're gonna move on.

I want to get clear, you're on the move.

I'll have to get clear what you just said.

If it involves on anything, if it involves millions of dollars, then we have the right, we don't have we can't bring it up.

All right.

Would the clerk read the substitution?

Penny.

We did.

No, you didn't.

Do you hear anything?

Yes, we did.

Didn't we vote to suspend the rules?

I made the motion to the motion and second, but you didn't vote.

Oh, we were in discussion.

All right.

All in favor of suspending the rules.

Those opposed?

Motion carries.

We change my vote to oppose.

Five to two.

Tuesday, Marshall against.

All right.

Clerk would read the substitution.

To the policy agenda we're substituting item 4K.

Resolution designating seven trees as a majestic tree for 1029 Howard Avenue.

All right.

Do I have a motion to accept the agenda?

As amended.

So move.

Moved by Mr.

Creel.

Is there a second?

Second by Mr.

Schumaker.

Any discussion?

All in favor?

Those opposed.

Motion carry.

Uh you get the opposition.

Okay.

Five to two.

All right.

Mayor's report.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

We have a sheriff.

Matt Haley's back in the corner.

Yeah.

Happy to have you here, Ms.

Hunt.

She's here.

Ready?

Talk about anything, Susan.

You got Brett and everything.

We got somebody in plain clothes, too.

Where is he?

Retired chief of police.

There you go, Chief.

Good to have you here.

Thank you.

I forgot about what I was going to report on.

Move it.

Happy Monty Brawl to everyone.

I think we had a couple of tenure pins, but we'll we'll wait until they come in in person.

But we do pass out.

I think Councilman Tisday wanted to look at a first quarter report.

And I think that's in printed form on your desk.

Yeah, but it gives you us where we are.

FY26 to date, three months into the year three three periods.

And it compares it, these two columns compares it to where we are three months into the year 2025.

It's straightforward.

I think uh councilman Tisney will answer for uh a little breakdown by the different departments by the different services, classes of services.

And if you have any questions, I think I'd be happy to answer them in and Diana's here also at this point in time.

Sure.

My request was and my understanding was this was going to be presented on the 27th, is my understanding.

I thought it would be on the agenda.

I don't have any questions prepared, but I do have some questions.

I don't have them with me today.

On the 27th, which will be next Tuesday.

But uh but the 27th would be terrific if Ms.

Thornton can be here then.

These numbers won't change, but it gives you a percentage of where we are.

Uh we're 25 percent into the budget year, period three.

So you look at those columns, and it will answer some questions, I think.

Uh pretty easily.

And we can talk about that at the next next time.

Sure, and that no, that's fine.

So if if you would be under the mayor's report at our next council meeting, I'm trying to get this in before Thursday at 11 a.m.

Well, if and then two, if you have some specific questions, it would be sure to include in this.

But this is again a recap of where we are with the period or period three closed, and we're in the middle of period four.

And uh again, the percentages kind of tell the tale if we're above or below where we should be 25 percent against the budget.

That's you know pretty easily uh understood here.

Sure.

No, I I appreciate the effort that went into this.

I just thought it would be next next Tuesday.

So if we can do that then that'd be that'd be good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Mr.

Gray.

Yeah, I want to uh thank Parks and Rex for um getting the walkway done at the uh Claire Hornsby Park.

It looks very nice.

And uh like I said, we'll try to get a crew together, do some pressure washing out there.

Uh Jamie, can I ask you a question real quick?

Can you give us your structure of your the way your department is designed, who's under you, how how does that work?

Um of course you have the director, then underneath you have superintendents, which report to the director, you have different superintendents of each division.

Currently, right now we have a beautification superintendent who's in charge of multiple different things, whether it be logistics, cleanups, cutting grass when the time is there.

Then on the other end, we have a park superintendent, which is responsible for maintaining ball fields, small maintenance, um, of course running the tournaments as well as cutting some grass throughout the city as well.

Okay, um, and you was an assistant director, correct?

Correct.

Well, I was I've been I've been through the process starting off, you know, through the aquatics program, working up through that, then eventually becoming a recreation superintendent, then an aquatics coordinator, then the assistant director, then ultimately the director.

So you it's not named uh assistant director yet?

No, sir.

To help you out with your day-to-day operations.

No, sir.

And um just having the conversation with um director weaver and everything, you know what I feel that we really need in the department is more middle managers, more superintendents that can, you know, lead the different divisions, then if the time comes for an assistant, possibly looking for one when the time is right for that.

And that's just my professional opinion.

Right.

So you're um your super superintendents or your supervisors are stepping up helping you do everything that you need.

Well, of course.

I mean, you know, we always need more people, you know, but um we're doing the best we can, the superintendents, supervisors, managers, um, all of the employees have stepped up to do, you know, what is asked of them, what is required of them, but you know, um just like any other department in the city, yeah, we need we need the manpower.

We need we need the laborers, we need the grass cutters.

Um, you know, we're excited about the challenges that are that we're faced with and coming up, but we do need people to fill those seats to fill, you know, to operate the weed eaters, to operate the lawnmowers, to work at the pools, um, to run the programs.

Right.

I I I'm just just seeing how how your department was structured.

I know you're missing a few, like a assistant director and you know, and it's and it's hard for you to do the day-to-day operations, you know, coming.

How many parts do you have that you have to take care of?

50, 50 plus.

50 plus.

So it's kind of hard to get around and get everything done by yourself.

So I'm just, you know.

Just seeing what you need.

Well, that's all.

And I mean, you know, I've been involved in the department for a long time.

You know, we all know that.

But you know, I've only been in charge of it since October, so I'm still learning my way through it as well to try to figure out, you know, what the best option is for who we have, where we want to go, working with the mayor, working with Rick, working with you guys, you know, on your needs as well.

So I mean, an assistant, yeah, maybe that is the right course, but uh, you know, superintendents is kind of my thought right now from my feeling, my professional opinion on the direction that this department needs to go initially.

You know, that way, you know, I can focus on managing superintendents, superintendents can work focus on managing staff underneath them, and then hopefully, you know, we can all achieve the all achieve the common objective, you know, with the city.

Right.

Well I I appreciate y'all getting a sign for O'Reilly Park.

Looks nice.

Right.

Um still I know you still have a whole lot more parks to signs for.

And that was the the prototype that we wanted to put up.

Um, you know, the mayor come up with, you know, looking at the design and everything.

We wanted to get it up, and then and then now we're gonna start focusing on the high need areas of where we need those signs and figure out how we're gonna get them, whether it's in-house, whether it's outsourcing, maybe a little bit of both.

But just, you know, we want to make sure that we keep the brand of the sign that way it it's consistent throughout the city.

And I know that's something the mayor wanted to do as well with them.

Right.

Now, me and me and Mike now rode around looking at all the parks that uh and you know, riding around looking.

I know it's on the O'Reilly's.

I mean, I don't know, uh I know you got people go around looking.

I know some of the fascia was starting to get real bad.

Uh, you know, we yeah, that's going to be a good thing.

On the uh covered pavilion right there by the workout equipment.

Right, right.

Now that's why I'm you know, I was wondering how you're structured if you had somebody go around looking at stuff like this, trying to figure out what we need before it falls down and you know when it's too late.

For sure.

Easier to fix a board now than a whole building.

We do, but you know, um we do have a lot of areas that we are responsible for, as I said earlier.

So um, you know, we do rely on the the public to report it as well, or you guys or um, you know, whoever sees it that way we can we can get it on the list and come up with a plan for it to get it to get it repaired.

So is this something that they can uh call the B connect uh Rick and do this also for sure with trash pickup and stuff.

Yeah anything anything can be relayed to the B Connect that way you know it'll get to us through CityWorks email phone call all of the above so you know we we would recommend to do that.

That way there is a paper trail it allows me to see it as well as you know dispatch it to the right people that we need to have it done and that way I can confirm you know when it has been completed as well.

I can look back and say oh this is closed out then I can go look at it and see how it was done and close that project out.

Right.

Let me clarify is making certain that non-emergency calls go to B Connect all emergency calls still 911 sir.

So I don't want anybody calling B Connect on something else.

Well B Connect was designed for trash pickup and things like this.

For sure.

Yeah so yeah yeah don't call them B Connect if you need a police department or fire department.

Right.

I saw I have few Tammy thank you.

Yes sir Miss Lamata I have been getting a lot of calls is there any way we can look at maybe trying to fix some of the stuff on Roden Bear.

Maybe put a riser on that on that manhole that's sinking a little bit something.

Well it's not compriser it's the pipes underneath I mean it it's too big of a job for us to do in house right um I mean we could do it's not that we couldn't do that type of work but it just takes them away from everything else.

It's the same crew that does grass cutting right now they're doing Mardi Gras.

We could do it but all those other things would have to wait until we have funding.

It's it's a pretty it's a pretty major work.

It's gonna take some time.

Right.

Take a lot of time for our in-house crews to do.

If we you know just just getting funding to get it done is is really the best route is it well walked into a business uh Saturday and a couple other business owners was there and you know they're just thinking that if they can fix get Rodenberg fixed that some of the traffic may flow since they don't like going down Iberville because they can't get out that is the next thing they can hopefully draw business that are people going down the road uh down the veterans yeah yeah so I agree it's it's in bad shape it needs to be fixed and it's it's on our list of potential projects you know that we on our repair place and all that but it's just it's a little big for us to do in house um and hopefully we can line up some funding soon.

Right.

Or are you still working on a trying to get a price so a price cost so we know kind of what we're looking at.

Yeah yes yes I have one and um let me know if I would get that to you and I didn't and to be fair can you give us a structure of your department so Jamie don't think I'm picking on him absolutely basically it's a that way that that way we all kind of know how everything works in your department.

Sure sure there's me and then I have on one side I have the engineers and my construction managers that handle all of our major capital projects anything that go out to bid any big things that we get quotes like roofs and HVAC and then on the other side I have superintendents and um I have a streets and drainage superintendent and then I have a water sewer superintendent and and it all they all fall underneath that.

The supervisors under there and then and then laborers below that.

Right okay all right thank you.

You're welcome.

Next thing uh trip to Jackson for the MML it was a very positive we met with a lot of the legislators and um they was happy to see some of Bloxy's counsel up there.

They got to talk to a lot of people and meet them.

So it it was really positive for us to get up there and show our faces.

So we're looking forward to to when they come down here.

That's all I have thank you.

Thank you.

Mr Marshall Come back to me.

Mr.

Neil um uh Jamie on parks I want to ask you a few things about Hill Park um when you say you got people under you looking at things um are they looking uh I I talked to you the other day about the bathroom on the um the port of potty that the doors broke yes sir uh wouldn't it be like a simple phone call to tell them to come get this one out of here put a brand new one in yes sir um I guess it would be um I reported it as soon as it came across my desk to the to the company that we lease or or rent them from and she said that the retair the the repair ticket has been put in I'm kind of shocked probably as you are that it hadn't been repaired yet just due to the fact it it's not able to be used right now.

I was going to give them maybe through the end of the day today or tomorrow morning check it out and if it's still not repaired I'm going to call them and say you know ask what is going on with this.

We need to get it fixed because you know I saw there was a it's like a piece of monofilament string tied to it this morning I guess so you could hold the door shut and I mean you know we do a lot of business with with this company with all of our portal that so seems like something that they wouldn't hopefully jump on.

We don't want to get it fixed.

We want to bring new one yeah yes sir.

Okay.

And then and about those um the polls that's going up with the chains to them no nothing's been done about them yet.

Right.

We're still looking at options on what we want to do with those and that's a conversation that I do want to have with Rick and the mayor as well as some some other alternatives that we you know do maybe even do a little background was it just done for aesthetics was it done for a certain reason.

You know why were they put there initially?

Was it to keep people from parking there?

If that's the case maybe we go back with you know some signs or something different that just says no parking on the grass.

Was it there as a barrier to keep people from driving off of the road onto the sidewalk where people walk so there's still just some unknown questions that we want to get answered before we do that.

But we we have found some alternative uses for them if we go that route that we can't use them in places where they will benefit possibly out at the sports complex um to keep people from parking next to the the water mains things like that that we are looking at possibly utilizing them for if able.

Okay all right thank you yes sir and uh in the broadwater uh golf course I went out there yesterday and took some pictures um homeless people are back and I talked to Lewis yesterday on the phone and he said that it's more of a police matter now to keep them off of there.

Is that true?

So we do we do have a trespassing letter signed on it but uh on public property it's still uh incumbent on the property owner um but we do go out there just last week they identified five camps and they're still working on identifying more some of those people they were id uh were able to contact at the time um but they're still each day they're trying to track them down and tell them they can't be there or arresting them on site.

Okay.

Yeah they had a fire going out there this morning.

I guess it was a little cold for them but you can see the smoke.

Yes sir.

All right but anyway on on do you think it if we wrote these people up and cleaned it up it'd help y'all out are you talking about the owner?

Yeah.

I know it's I know it's um in in a little twisted right now but that would probably be a a question for Mr.

Creel but um we have been working with Mr.

Krill's office along with the owner of course you know what happened here recently with Mr Poor mr mr four but um we are working on it daily trying to identify the new people uh we all we we did have to pull some of the people from our Pi squad what we call them uh to put back on the road well they should be going back here shortly once other people come off training um but that's one of the things we knew we'd see is a little increase uh but we're working on it daily to try to to bring it back down and move forward uh from where we were all right all right thank you and uh I just want to remind everybody of my award meeting the 26 on Monday everybody can come complain about anything we'll have people there to answer the questions.

All right thank you that's that's my report.

All right.

Thank you Mr.

Neil Mr.

Crew hey Mike can they come and compliment you too?

Yeah.

I was just checking that's um uh first of all I'd like to uh give a shout out to the mayor uh Rick and uh Ms.

Lobata for your um departmental reports uh at the last meeting um the specific questions and I think throughout the whole conversation we were able to get some answers and get some timelines that was uh presented uh I appreciate the uh detailed presentation it was uh well noted and um uh I look forward to pursuing that avenue on some future projects just looking at the attention to detail that you and your staff did so thank you for that I certainly appreciate it um just any update on the B alert I know we were looking at a new company yes we had a meeting today with Shane and myself and several others and so we're taking a look at that and then we're gonna discuss this with this week I think we have a meeting shane with the mayor and then we'll move that okay so I may be coming to you to try to move some money around some way to kind of change it up on this particular company.

But I think you'll be but real pleased, and I think it will address some of the conversation topics that you and I have had, especially at the late night.

Some of those things.

So we're gonna briefly on that, and then we'll come back to you within the next uh two, three weeks.

You know, the the volatility of the posture bridge, it's it's instrumental for both sides of the bridge to know if that thing's down or up or more importantly.

So beautification commission tomorrow uh meeting is at uh 11 a.m.

open to the public.

Uh just a brief some positive notes on on the progress that this commission's done in the short time uh that they've been uh in place.

Dealing with the county, we've talked to uh Supervisor Dan Quavis along with um the Sand Beach Authority, Trey and uh uh with Bobby Trosclair uh looking at um doing a rechristening of the area down with uh the Fred Hayes area.

Um I know that the county's doing some work down there with rebuilding the uh foundation uh of that walkway, and they're gonna be doing some spillage uh work there as well.

So coordinating with the commissions coordinate with the county and and their beautification commission as well to um have something, you know, it'll be the uh let's see, April 11th will be the 54th anniversary of Apollo 13 lift-off.

So, you know, Fred Hayes, one of uh I would say Biloxi's most famous, famous uh resident uh, you know, and it's it's part of the nation's 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence.

So what they're gonna try to do, they've met with the artist that did the moonwalk that's down there.

Uh she's gone and looked at it and gave them a timeline of what they need for her to come in and rehab the moon walk and then having a rechristening of that area down there.

So stay tuned with that.

The commission, I'm I I can't um say enough about them.

These and I know I say it every single time, but these are these are people that are volunteering with no authority and no money, and and they're giving up their time and sitting here uh twice a month, and that's just here, but they're out there working on the streets with other projects as well.

So I just wanted to share some of the positive things.

I shared the minutes with the uh uh councilman.

You you'll have the minutes from last meeting and then the agenda for tomorrow's meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Crew, Mr.

Tuesdale.

Yes, two things.

Uh if is there uh an update on uh Keegan Bayo project?

I think things are starting to happen out there.

Just Christy, readers digest version, what we're trying to accomplish, roughly a timeline and um so they they are we're dredging out the bayou from all the way from Division Street all the way to the mouth of the bayou.

Uh mainly to help with the drainage that happens at Division Street.

It's the basic the bayou is almost completely filled in at that point.

It backs water up all the way up on a Keysler actually causes pretty significant flooding in that area.

So that was the intent of the project.

Uh they have started, they just showed up.

You'll see the barge at the mouth of the river.

They're gonna dredge out the mouth of the river and then head up to just just so that make sure that anything that comes as they're working, they're gonna stir up sediment, so they want that to be able to flow out.

Um and then they'll move up to division street and then they're gonna start there and work their way all the way back down.

Uh I can't remember the time frame off the top of my head, but it may be probably uh maybe six months, but I'll have to double check and make sure it's 2.53 million into the first one.

Yeah, it's yeah, it's about two million dollars.

Is there an over or under on how many washers and dryers we're gonna find in the very interesting that that value has never been dredged since after Katrina?

So there's no telling what they're gonna find in there.

Uh there's a lot of trash back up in there.

All right.

Um thank you very much.

Appreciate that.

Uh the only other thing is Pine Grove Avenue on the Coliseum's West Parking lot.

There's a gate at the north end of Pine Grove Avenue at the Coliseum opens up to let traffic out.

And usually that's after a concert 99% of the time.

Anywhere from 1130 to 1230.

Traffic becomes a real issue for the residents because with all the noise and the honking, and there are two ways in and out of that neighborhood, and one of those is closed now on Briarfield for infrastructure.

So this was a real issue, and it's been going on for years.

Um is there any reason why we cannot obstruct that West Gate?

The gate is their property, then there's a sidewalk, a little fire hydrant on the corner, and then you have the curb and pine grove.

Is there any reason we couldn't take uh Jamie for those uh those little posts and chains or maybe something, maybe move them right there to prevent those gates from opening.

Um, and just very quickly, a couple of other things related to that neighborhood.

Mesa in the Orleans, you have traffic coming in and out of there.

It's used as a shortcut.

They just blow right through the stop signs.

They litter uh the residents litter every everywhere along that strip of Mercury Lane, which is maybe three times the length of this room.

So if you're a resident in that neighborhood, you're constantly having to look at the litter, listen to the traffic and the noise.

And would the Pops Ferry extension with the ingress and egress to the to the Coliseum property?

Could then that West Gate be closed entirely?

Because if so, maybe by the end of this December or January, then this issue would go away.

But in the meantime, no telling how many concerts we have, dumping traffic in that neighborhood at 12 o'clock to one o'clock at night.

And we'll take a look, but I think you're gonna get both chiefs on this one from the public safety standpoint, but I do believe that we can once that is opened from the Pop Ferry extension to be able to utilize that.

But I will turn it over to the professional.

So we're we're definitely looking forward to the uh extension being opened up because that's gonna help us out tremendously.

Um what we had talked about about Friday night.

That's totally unacceptable.

Um I was just talking with Chief Geyser a little bit.

We'll look at it, make sure it's not a fire issue, anything like that.

But we're also working on uh getting back with the Coliseum to have con re-engage that conversation because one of the the uh buyer field being closed down, it's uh it's no good.

We are working on it.

Right now, uh and and I appreciate that.

And this is nothing new.

I think this was a problem.

Uh this was a concern probably before John Miller was police chief with being my guest.

I can't believe it didn't solve all these issues before he left.

Well, if you if you can the last conversation uh it didn't really go anywhere.

So we're gonna try to re-engage and see what we can come up with.

Right.

And even when Briarfield is opened again, maybe in the next couple of weeks or whatever, it's still going to be an issue until that gate is closed.

And it's just an egress, nobody enters, they're always exiting.

Yeah, I shouldn't take going through a neighborhood trade.

All right, thank you.

Appreciate that.

So thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you, Mr.

Tisdale.

Mr.

Schumacher.

Just a few things.

Uh the Thomason Center or Medical Plaza on Shriners just north of the interstate.

I believe they meant with uh Director Creel and his department last week.

I think the the wheels are in motion now, so hopefully that project will finally.

I know it's been delayed a little bit for the last year or so, but but it's a great development for the city and for Ward 7.

So I think that's moving forward now, hopefully.

Uh Howard Creek Bridge on old Highway 67.

Uh we had emergency repairs last week.

The bridge went had to be shut down.

Repairs are being made.

Uh hopefully those will be done soon.

The bridge will be back open for a while.

We do have funding in place.

I think bids will go out hopefully in the next couple weeks to replace, demolish and replace that bridge.

That's coming more information soon about that.

It'll be shut down for six months, though, when that does happen, but we'll have more information when we get a little bit closer, but it is in the works.

And lastly, uh Councilman Nail brought up homeless at Broadwater.

I know we hadn't really talked about that much.

Uh it's it's not a police issue.

Uh, they're doing everything they can, no doubt.

We've kicked this can down the curb for years.

We've talked about it for years, just since I've been on the council.

Until we hold the owner's feet to the fire and do something, I'm gonna just say it's never gonna end.

It's gonna go away a while, and then it's gonna come back because we do nothing at all to hold their feet to the fire for some reason.

Don't know why.

We don't do it.

And until we do, that's gonna keep it's good, it's gonna resurface.

So at some point, we as a city as an administration are gonna have to do something about it, or we're gonna have this discussion next year at the same time.

And that's all I have.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Schumacher.

Mr.

Tuesday, you had another thought?

Yes, just just uh a quick comment, and and and it deals with um properties and the homeless.

There's two parcels that were adjacent that are situated between Fernwood Road and Eisenhower Drive, and the property owner uh when when uh the unsheltered, the homeless started moving in there when the broadwater was being cleaned.

He called me.

I said, Look, if you can not clear cut what's away, if you can get rid of all the undergrowth, beautiful little oak trees and pine and everything.

I said, as long as there it's the police can drive by and see the property pretty much from one end to the other.

That way they know where the the homeless are situated, if they've got to move folks, if they need a no trespass letter, you don't have to say I'm just saying that's worked for this property.

It's several acres.

Uh I don't know what the cost would be, but again, as I said several years ago, that's not my concern.

That's a property owners.

That's all just gonna make that observation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Teesdale.

Mr.

Marshall.

All right.

Um my report is kind of simple.

Um the procedures that we see going on today.

I'm gonna be fighting.

I'm not giving up the fight to make sure that this does not continue.

Uh I want to make sure that my report includes the fact that when I was elected, I was elected for change.

When I knocked on everyone's door, I said I would not come here and sit here and watch and rubber stamp anything that goes on.

As you see, I followed the procedures.

As you see, I'll try to do everything I can to get one item on the agenda.

As you see, this is stacked.

And as you can also see, there's work to be done.

So I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I'm happy, but I am gonna tell you up front.

This is very obvious.

This is so obvious that it's painful that we have to sit here and watch this agenda, just this council under the leadership of the president that we have now, fuss and fight and beg to get an item on the agenda.

Nowhere in my understanding of the law does it say that I have to have the permission of the very one that we are authorized by law to do checks and balances on to put something on the council's agenda.

I am reporting to you that I'm going to be fighting.

This is just the beginning.

I'm not going to try to do this by myself.

I need your help.

Mr.

and Mrs.

Biloxi.

We are now still working with a 20 million dollar deficit because of rubber stamping.

We're now working with a deficit that we took 1.8 million dollars from the police department because of rubber stamping.

We're now working at a position where we have police officers that are not able to continue to be employed with this city, those that we count on to protect us while we're sleeping.

We are now stabbing them in the back.

We're now asking, as we can see, every every meeting, begging for money for to put to fix potholes in streets in our wards.

What this resolution that was not put on the agenda was blocked illegally, was to make sure that each ward would get an allocation of equal amounts.

No war would get any more than the other.

Equal amounts of your money to go into each ward.

Or it will continue to do as it is, where the mayor decides basically, throw it on the agenda, and then we decide.

On this agenda, there's a $14 million, $14 million bond, 10 million dollar bond was we voted for during the budget, which I did not vote for.

On this agenda, there are so many items that did not go through the same procedure that they say that what I was asking for as a as a sitting council member had to do.

We have a double standard of rules, and it's designed not to help you, it's designed to hurt you, the citizens.

I'm going to fight.

Those of you who come here every week, every week, notice that we have now all of a sudden has to be going through what's called a study agenda.

I've been coming to these meetings for years.

I've never once seen any item on any agenda that said study agenda.

I've never seen any votes pushing anything towards the study agenda.

Mr.

Tisdale, you've been here longer than I have.

Have you seen an item on any of these agendas that say study agenda to be placed on the meetings where you have to go through this process?

Actually, I can only recall one.

Okay.

But one, yes, I've seen one.

So we go back eight years for something that doesn't routine.

That doesn't happen.

That's that's not even that doesn't even make any sense.

We're going to follow the rules.

Follow the rules.

I have no problem with that.

But don't change the rules, adjust the rules so that you can get the agenda that the mayor wants and not what the people need.

The money needs to go to each ward member, each council member, in order that we may serve each of our wards, plain and simple.

Every meeting, each of these ward members come here to ask for the share of money to fix roads.

Ward seven needs ditches clean, southwells work done, infrastructure work done.

You have to come in and ask, please.

You've heard today, council members asking for war to work to be done and funding, begging.

That is not our job to do that.

We are, according to the state law, and I'm going to be fighting that this put be put right into perspective that we are in charge of the funds for the city of Biloxi.

The seven of us.

No one on that table is responsible for the funds.

We are.

As the president of the council, I will respect my president.

I will expect the president of this council, my president, to speak up for our rights to at least have something on the agenda so that we as a council can either voted up or voted down.

It should be our decision.

This is the council's room, not the mayor's room.

This is the room where the people's voice is heard.

I will fight.

This is just the beginning.

Mr.

and Mrs.

Biloxi, if you want to see changes, I ask that you contact me.

I ask that you contact each of your council members and say, we don't want it to go the way it's been going.

Make the change.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Marshall.

Got a few items here, but before I address these items, try to address uh the temperature in the room.

We do have a process.

We do have mechanisms on on this uh on this council, and I do take my role as council president.

I'll be serving for another six months.

I hope I've served admirably for the first six months of this uh new term.

Um but as I stated earlier the resolution that was being proposed was changed at least three times, at least, if not more, but three that we know of.

Uh legal said they just got the this new resolution sometime today, and they said they haven't had a chance to look at it.

This is not changing a uh speed sign.

Uh this is not uh saying they were going to pass a resolution to you know change uh you know the the something in a specific ward.

This affects all seven wards.

It's a big deal, complex issue.

The administration has uh a staff that puts these contracts together when if and when we take action to create seven different accounts for seven different wards.

And I think it's prudent for us to make sure that we include them at the table to have all the information to be transparent, to be inclusive, and not just what one councilman may feel is right for the entire city.

And uh so the action that was taken was to slow it down and suggest and uh let's do a workshop.

That's all of us.

You're all invited to that workshop if we said it, along with the administration that this affects when we take money and put it into different accounts and we say it's going to go for different projects, and it's gonna require bids, it's gonna require engineering, it's gonna be uh require some oversight.

That is not a just a simple measure of changing a speed limit sign.

So I look forward to it.

I may agree hard wholeheartedly with the resolution, uh, and we may not make any changes, but I suspect we probably will in the best interest of the citizens and the city of Biloxi as your city working together, not independently, but working together.

Now, somebody may try to smudge that or uh take shots at it.

I I don't know the um motivation for that.

Uh those individuals will will have to kind of reconcile that good conscience.

Now, to my council report.

It was very, very good day yesterday uh at the Martin Luther King uh parade.

Uh very inspiring.

The weather was uh excellent.

Uh the mood was upbeat.

It was exactly what Biloxi should look like.

Um and I uh wrote these words down uh by Martin Luther King.

I was gonna kind of share that with everybody today to open my my uh council report.

This is what he said.

This is what one sentence that he said.

I believe what self-centered men have torn down, other centered men can build up.

Martin Luther King.

And uh I hope that I can just uh kind of represent that just a little bit.

Um, if you watch the uh championship game, some of you may be football fans, some of you may not, but it was great to see that Croatian kicker uh win the game for him last night.

Uh Nicholas Radisch, uh he accounted for nine points in their six-point uh national championship victory.

So congratulations to the Croatian kicker and the uh and uh the Indiana team for uh winning the national championship.

It was unbelievable.

Um Chief Miller, uh it was an excellent night, sir, with you and Big Murph.

Uh almost standing room only.

The uh food was excellent.

I think we had every council member uh was there, the mayor was there, and all your fans and and friends and uh officers, they were there too, sir.

Would you uh elaborate of your experience that night?

And before you start, I I want to just say this.

Your daughter.

Your daughter, there was not a dry eye in the entire room when she just poured her heart and soul out about her daddy, and uh we thank her for that too.

I appreciate that, sir.

Teenage.

But I I appreciate very much everything everybody did.

I appreciate the council.

You've been a great counsel to work with.

Uh I appreciate it so much.

I thought the other night was more than I I expected.

Some of those things I didn't know were going to take place took place, but it was all it was all uh very appreciated.

Again, I appreciate all of you.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Chief.

Okay.

Uh I just want to acknowledge uh Christy and her team and uh public works and engineering.

There was a water break.

I don't have many of these.

I was just bragging the other day, and then what happens?

I I have a water break in my ward uh at live oak on the bay.

They were Johnny on the spot.

I think it was a clamp uh that a bag clamp, so it wasn't a major issue, but it was a major issue to some of the folks there for a little while.

Thank you for uh responding promptly.

Thank you for the uh administration uh for communicating to everyone at Boy Water Notices and informing them it's okay to uh uh use the water again.

Um I reported last council meeting about the tunnels to towers of benefit, hosted by uh the sanctuary.

I just want to reiterate again.

Uh I spent most of the day out there with those folks, and it was an incredible evening.

Um firefighters versus crime fighters.

I mean, they were shoulder to shoulder, belly to belly, and they were having that donut eating contest, and I think the firefighters edged them by a couple of donuts uh and all that kind of stuff, but that was a lot of fun.

Pro wrestling and to see the little kids up.

I mean, they they thought they were in uh the superdome and the wrestlers were interacting with the families and not in a good way.

Um, but they they were interacting, and the kids were were having a good time.

Two great bands, the Tyrone uh Benoit Benoit.

I was calling it Ben Oit, but I was uh corrected as the Benoit band, and there was a skinned tribute band that was uh pretty pretty amazing.

And it Scott Payne, no relation to the pains here, he's an ex-FBI agent, and he had stories to tell.

I mean, this is a guy that had to gain the trust and go undercover and infiltrate some of the bad dudes uh around the nation and get them off the streets, and uh he was pretty successful.

I shook his hand and I mean his hand went all the way up to my wrist, uh, but he was a big bad dude.

And then finally, Rockavaca, uh they unveiled a hero bottle.

They could have chose uh California who tried to woo them for this unveiling.

They could have chose New York, they could have chose Florida, um, but they chose Biloxi, Mississippi.

And every bottle that is sold, five dollars, five dollars goes to tunnels to tower benefit.

And I I think they said they expect us uh sell how many uh uh Rick was there.

How many bottles did you recall what they said they were gonna expect him to sell?

Just to event several hundred.

Yeah, just that they've been 700, but I think they're gonna sell thousands and thousands of these bottles, 20,000 or some some ridiculous number, and 20,000 times five dollars uh would go to uh tunnels to towers.

There were some tunnel to tower uh regional and national people there, and they're already trying to uh establish relationships with our tunnels to tower event uh you know later on in September.

Um in the Jackson uh legislative reception over the last couple of weeks, we went up to Jackson twice, once for the uh legislative reception, another time we went up for the Mississippi Municipal Midwinter Conference.

We had several of the uh council members there getting their uh educational credits, learning more about municipal government and how to be effective.

And we got the rub elbows with our coast contingency up there, Scott Delano, Kevin Felscher, Zach uh Grady, Casey Uri, who's been essential for a lot of things, Greg Haney, if you haven't heard that name, he leads the uh tourism.

Uh the the tourism uh uh commission up or not commission, but it's a uh tourism arm of the legislature that he kind of uh leads that.

Uh and then we went over to MDOT and we talked to them, and we had a very good response.

They appreciated uh Biloxi being prepared and and having their documents and uh ready so it makes it easier for them to make decisions to help us and assist us.

So stay stay tuned for that.

Um I do have a question uh for Chief Bach.

Um this concerns the humane society, and I I don't know if you don't want to comment on today, so you'll have more information.

Um, but I had a conversation with some of the folks.

I think they have a meeting scheduled with you on us purchasing some kennels.

Can you just give us an overview on what the purpose of that is and and what the goal is?

If you can comment on it at this time.

But we're not purchasing anything.

That's all donated to us.

Okay.

Um if let's say somebody gets arrested, it's a cold night out and uh need a place to put them, uh, emergency situation.

That's what those kennels are for.

Okay.

Um, you know, it's not to replace anything that has we have in uh existence now.

Okay, fair enough.

All right.

Well, good luck on uh the meeting you're gonna have on Thursday.

And then the only final thing I have uh if we can close our meeting today in uh memory of Jack Joackham, uh long time Biloxian who uh passed away.

I'd appreciate consideration for that.

That concludes my report.

We'll move on to the public agenda, citizens' comments.

We have a total of 45 minutes.

Each person that comes up, please uh write your name and address on the paper that's uh on the table and state your name clearly for the record so the clerk can record it.

You'll have three minutes uh after your time expires, you'll hear the bell ring.

And if you would uh end your uh uh presentation at that time, it would be appreciated.

This is not question and answers.

This is just what's on your mind to share uh with the council and the mayor today.

So we'll start on my left, your right, just raise your hand to be recognized, Mr.

Savestra.

Kick it off.

Uh Bob Silvestro, 181 Iris Street.

First thing.

Congratulations.

And uh second, thanks to Jerry.

There's some homes in our neighborhood that have been vacant for decades, and I guess they did whatever the owners decided to knock them down, which make them much more.

And I noticed the house next to it is fixing it up.

Most of you know what we've been through in the last two years to try and do things.

My last count, we have 22 homes.

Some of them are amazing.

There's two homes going up now.

And uh, long story short, the minute you try and address homeless and you get somewhere, the homeless advocates are gonna show up here and tell you what a bad guy you are.

I've gone through the Citizens Academy with the police department.

Yeah.

I don't know what you're afraid of, but I could tell you, you should ask for the numbers.

Let's say two years ago, what law enforcement and first responders spent dealing with the Broadwater compared to the last year.

You've saved six figures.

Now, police department can say what they want.

The truth of the matter is they can't enforce it unless it's cleared.

What's going on back there is atrocious.

This isn't homeless people.

This is drug dealers running in.

It's starting to go over again.

So we have people working so hard to renovate our neighborhood.

And truthfully, you know what the problem is?

Not the homeless, the city.

I went through everything the way I did.

Mr.

Gray, Mr.

Marshall, Mr.

Now, Mr.

Creel, Mr.

Schumacher.

I commend you.

You're on the right way.

You guys, I have the utmost respect for with the mayor, but you don't get it.

It's got nothing to do with me.

The city has changed.

You can't keep going the way you're going.

You need to put not your police responsibility.

Anderson, whoever owns the place now, has to put private security.

There's no more, oh, we like this guy, we don't like this guy.

Go in there and see what's happening to girls.

Let me tell you, son.

How his insurance company is giving him insurance on that property.

How can you have someone live somewhere with no toilet?

I had to get a permit.

I'm just telling you, I try and do everything the right way.

Come to the neighborhood and see it.

It's very sad.

You have to stop the wave.

So anything I can do, and Mr.

Marshall, I give you all the credit in the world for trying to do what you're doing.

It's very difficult, but you have our support.

And Mr.

Nell, thank you.

All these have a good day.

Thank you.

Anyone else on my left?

Raise your hand to be recognized.

Yes, sir.

Chris Noble and I live at 2304 Mary Lane.

And I own property next to property that's requesting a conditional use permit on Farmwood Road.

My property is on Debes.

I oppose this conditional use permit because allowing such a facility in contrast with the LDO at this location will be inconsistent with the character of the surrounding area, which is primarily businesses engaged in retail sales and commercial services.

It is likely that this facility would deter potential customers and negatively impact property values.

And worst of all, hindering future growth and development in the area.

This facility doesn't align with the needs or the interest of the nearby residents and the businesses who are unlikely to be the target clientele for a drug and alcohol counseling or a sober living facility.

I urge you to uphold the zoning regulations as they're written.

Protect the interest of the existing property owners and prevent the imposition of undue burdens on property owners and public safety services.

I ask that the council adhere to the definitions and guidelines established in the current LDO and recognize that this applicant is indeed a social services agency and then intending to operate a sober living facility, which is not permitted in a neighborhood business zone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else on my left?

Yes, sir.

Get you next.

Okay.

You're you're next.

Hello there.

Um, my name is Mike Commerce Smith.

I live at uh 2545 Wilson Road in Edgewater Park.

I just wanted to speak on behalf of being in favor of the majestic oak tree designation being approved for the giant beautiful live oak in Edgewater Park.

Uh I have nothing else to say.

I want to thank Mr.

Tisdale and Mr.

Creel and Susan Peterson for helping me fill out the application.

And I think we need to protect these beautiful trees, and that's probably one of the best looking trees in the city, in my opinion.

But uh thank you very much.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Name is Lance Clark.

I'm at 13058 Pond Valley Lane.

Um speaking on in regards to item Q.

Uh according to the city's own ordinance, a halfway house is for individuals coming out of custodial confinement.

The applicant has already stated that the residents are not coming from confinement and are participating voluntarily.

The services they describe match the city's definition of a social services agency, which is not allowed in the zoning districts.

This is not about opposing their mission.

It is about applying the zoning laws correctly and consistently.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else on my left?

Yes, ma'am.

Hello, uh, my name is Jennifer Noble.

I live in the 2300 block of Mary Lane.

Um, this is also in opposition to item 4-Q concerning the conditional use permit for 2793 Farnwood Drive.

The program proposed at this location does not meet the City of Biloxi's definition of a halfway house according to Chapter 2310 of the land development ordinance.

A halfway house is limited to individuals on release from custodial confinement or in place in lieu of such confinement.

The applicant has made it clear that their residents are not coming from compliment and are not court referred and are participating voluntarily.

Um the services described by the applicant, including faith-based counseling, life skills training, job readiness programs, recovery meetings, and case management fit the city's definition of a social services agency, which is described as a nonprofit facility providing training, counseling, health services, life skills training, substance abuse counseling, housing services, job centers, or neighborhood recovery centers.

The applicant's program aligns exactly with this definition, and a social services agency is not permitted in the neighborhood business zone.

Approving this under the wrong classification would undermine the zoning integrity and set a precedent that weakens protections for all property owners.

Um to meet the spirit of the law, you must first meet the letter of the law.

I want to be clear that rewriting the ordinance to make prohibited use suddenly permissible is not a clarification.

It is a change in law to accommodate one applicant, and that undermines the entire purpose of zoning.

And for these reasons, reasons, I respectfully request that the conditional use permit be denied, not tabled, not postponed, not sent to committee, but as presented, it should be denied.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Get to you next.

Okay.

Hi, I'm Catherine Catherine Bublick.

I live at 2291 Club Moss.

Um I just have um same thing about the Fernwood.

All I'm asking is that the city apply its own zoning laws correctly.

This proposal does not meet the definition, and approving it any way puts every property owner at risk.

We deserve accuracy, transparency, and enforcement that protects our community.

Thank you.

Two items that I want to uh speak on today.

Uh one is the on the policy agenda item P, which is a resolution granting conditional use approval uh for a short-term rental at 1541 Collins.

Um that may I ask you to state your name and address?

Michael Cameron.

That's okay.

134 St.

Jude.

Thank you.

Um this conditional use was approved by the Planning Commission.

Uh and under the assumption that it met all the could be use-specific standards for um a short-term rental.

Uh, it does not meet um specifically the um standard of occupying no more than 60 percent of the lot.

That is uh standard 23-4-3 10E4F, if you want to look it up.

But um, and that is a use specific standard, not a zoning standard.

And that is a use specific standard, not a zoning standard.

So there's my understanding that that a use specific standard, you cannot provide a variance for that.

So if that particular uh property does not meet that use specific standard, then it cannot be approved.

So in my opinion, the planning commission is in violation of the LDO regarding uh short-term rental standard.

Um I think that that conditional use should be denied.

Uh I mean the the if you if you go out there, the uh these are uh 37 by 91 lots, and this structure uh almost fits the entire lot and parking is included in this in this 60 percent um calculation.

So the entire lot is almost taken out by the structure and the parking.

Um so that's I recommend, and that's again item P.

Um the uh second one I want to talk about real quick is that uh broad water.

Uh and I wasn't gonna mention this, but my brother uh was coming back from uh Madi Grash uh activity in New Orleans on the train, and he said as soon as they hit Mouvar Road, that it was it was embarrassing to know that they were in the city of Biloxi drive riding the train due through the middle of the broadwater property, and he said it was just pitiful, pitiful.

I don't understand that property only pays the entire property.

I'm talking about north and south rail tracks only pays $60,000 a year in property tax.

That's it.

How much is the city of Biloxi spent trying to clean the property up when it is broadwater development LLP?

Have a registered agent, go for it.

Why doesn't the city contact that agent and say you need to get something done on your property?

That's all right.

Thank you.

Anyone else on this side of the room?

Raise your hand to be recognized if you want to speak.

I'll go to we have one?

Yes, sir.

Hello, my name is Larry Tusey.

So I uh study live oak trees.

Probably measured more trees than anybody in the world uh for live oaks.

A lot of you guys know me from uh protecting trees before, and I think it's admirable what y'all are doing about this majestic tree program that Susan Peterson uh is introduced.

I don't know the the details, are y'all voting on that or what, but uh I want to commend Biloxi does a pretty good job on their live oaks of protecting them.

I'm also working with Ocean Springs.

Uh I'm I'm everywhere on the coast.

Uh I'm actually affiliated nationwide with uh a bunch of scientists, arborists, uh people that are from New England to Colorado to North North Washington State to uh South Carolina, and uh our our trees here are so special that uh one tree is its own ecosystem.

So you have insects, mammals, reptiles that live and die on a live oak tree that's say a century or two old, and to see you know, hurricanes have destroyed so many of them, and the development takes some out as well.

But but I think Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Long Beach, all our cities here do a pretty good job of of taking care of our trees because they're all special.

We grew up here.

My grandfather would grew up here under these trees, your father, your your cousins and married under these trees.

So if we can protect as many as we can and highlight the majestic trees, uh that is a that is a special thing.

So I just want to thank the city for even considering doing that.

I don't think it's been done uh many places uh down here.

I'm working on some tree trails in cities.

So uh maybe Biloxi would be interested in later on creating a tree trail that you could actually have a map and go to these majestic trees uh and and uh learn the species and the importance of the trees.

I just I'm here for Sue on Susan's behalf, and uh I can help anybody.

I'll just I'm I'm on Facebook.

Uh everybody knows how to get in touch with me.

I'm at I just came from Goche doing some trees on the river.

And I was in Goche yesterday.

I'm in Van Cleave, I'm in Ocean Springs, Upport.

I'm in Van Cleave, I'm in Ocean Springs, Upport, I've been in Louisiana, all over the south doing this.

So thank you guys for uh voting on this issue.

Thank you.

All right, I missed anyone on this side.

Anyone else?

Raise your hand high so I can see it if you want to speak.

All right, I'm gonna move to this side of the room.

Yes, sir.

Uh my name is Curtis Schaefer.

I own the property at 1541 Collins Street that the gentleman was speaking about earlier.

Um to address what he had to say.

I will at least uh offer.

I went through the planning commission to actually have a little additional sidewalk put along the side, and they did the calculations then to make sure that I was within the standard that was required.

Uh I was told I couldn't do any more, but that uh that met what they did.

They sent me to engineering.

Engineering had to look at it because of drainage issues, and they gave their stamp of approval too.

Um I will say I love Biloxi.

Um I've had a mild history here.

Uh, did some of my training in optometry school at Keysler.

Uh, love the area that was before Katrina.

Uh after Katrina, I came back in the military in 07, uh, was part of the uh Air Force Reserve there as an optometrist.

And uh I my heart just broke when I saw these empty lots with nothing on it.

And I had conversations in the mil with some of the military members that had lost everything, telling me that they couldn't afford to build back because it was so expensive.

Insurance was sky high.

Uh the standards had been elevated to the point they were out of reach for a lot of folks.

And I have invested a lot of time, a lot of money to be able to beautify my one little section of Biloxi.

Um I specifically looked there because I wanted to be close to a military base.

My wife wanted to be close to the water.

You know, there were several issues there.

Um due to the expense.

Uh I would love to try to find a way to make it work where I can afford to pay for the insurance.

But I can tell you up front, when I retire, my income will be so much less that unless I have somebody renting there, it probably won't happen.

And it's a risk I really don't want to take.

So if it gets to that point, I may be required to actually sell my dream where I want to retire and be a part of this community.

Uh which would break my heart again.

But I've already heard from a couple that have opposed, and I respect your opinions.

Uh I think that's what you're here for.

But I wanted to at least offer my point of view and tell you I love your city.

I want other people to love your city, come here and enjoy it.

My place has uh easy access to restaurants to entertainment uh outside of the casino area, and it has some beautiful views of the ocean.

We we just love it.

That's all I have to say.

Thank you, sir.

Anyone else on by right?

Raise your hand to be recognized if you'd like to speak.

Yes, sir.

I uh recently bought a piece of property next to me.

I live at 314 Kaya Street.

My name's John Foster.

Uh by the way, and uh I bought the piece of property on the side of me at 310.

I'd like to put two single single house, single single family dwellings on it, and uh offer short-term rentals.

It is it is uh zone uh residential business.

This is not a QA.

We we don't answer questions and answers.

This is just public comments.

Okay, citizens' comments.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

You you off you can ask one of the administration to clarify that.

Or you or your councilman after the meeting concludes.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Anyone else?

Yes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Dina Whitman.

I am the executive director of Open Doors Homeless Coalition, and we are the owner of 2793 Fernwood.

Just wanted to let you know that we are here if you have any questions when you reach policy item Q on your agenda.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

My right, right side of the room.

Anyone in the back of the room?

Come on up.

Yep.

Hi, my name is Steve Dillahousey, a registered nurse.

I'm here to talk about the Halfway House or Transitional Living proposal.

I live at 2580 Rue Palafox.

Unlike a lot of the other people, I am a resident of Ward 5.

I'm president of the Enclave Homeowners Association.

I'd like to say what's being proposed here is uh temporary structured housing for individuals recovering from addiction, homelessness while they work towards employment, sobriety, permanent housing.

These homes are not emergency shelters, and they operate with strict rules, supervisions, and accountability and standards.

The benefits of the community is that number one reduces visible homelessness.

We know where they are.

It improves public safety outcomes.

There are fewer calls for services for police and fire department and EMS.

It saves public resources because there's a place for these people to stay, and they don't have to devote it to finding people in these uh encampments in the woods.

Uh it supports, number four, supports workforce participation.

They try to get people that are there to go into the workplace to prepare them.

Many residents become uh uh employees, renters, and contribute to community.

Uh number five, it breaks the addiction homeless cycle.

Transitional living provides a bridge between treatment and independent living.

The benefits to the individual is that it provides stable housing and supports recovery.

Uh also has uh accountability with support.

The programs will include curfews and behavioral standards, sobriety monitoring, counseling or recovery meetings, and case management.

It provides a pathway to permanent housing, and the important consideration is it provides well-managed program benefits to both residents and neighborhoods.

The benefits described here are strong on program management.

The proposal meets all these criteria.

In summary, the people that are proposing this, it will reduce homelessness, improve public safety outcomes, save public resources, support workforce participation, and preserve neighborhood quality of life.

I think it's a good idea, and I'm very much for it.

Nobody wants it in their neighborhood, but where?

Where are you going to put it?

Years ago, uh Mayor Gillish in his first term proposed uh instead of tearing down the Bouvoir school to have a homeless shelter.

Uh that was uh turned down by the council.

Uh, this is not a shelter, but that would have solved a lot of problems.

When they tore down the woods on Iris Street, there were more than a hundred hundred encampments there.

They had to move somewhere.

This is going to take care of five.

It'll take care of five.

They have to be there for two years.

Um, they have to go through sobriety tests.

There's just the the uh company that's proposing it is very much credible.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Delahucey.

Thank you.

All right.

Anyone else on my right?

Yes.

My name is Barry Lyons.

I'm here on behalf of uh Discipleship 33, which is uh a faith-based uh recovery home or a place for people that have been through certified and verified programs that are on their way to a new life.

I'm a uh former client of uh uh a board member of the home of grace, and uh this program uh has been derived or basically uh got its beginnings through the home of grace and the people that are in charge of this.

Uh, I'm a board member of Discipleship 33.

We believe this is a a very worthwhile project that fits in.

Uh we've gone through all the the proper steps and uh had been advised as to how to label it, how that comes out.

Uh obviously we'll leave it up to you guys, but I'm here in support of it, and uh believe that uh this is gonna open the door for for uh improving uh the coast and helping these people get on with their lives and and and provide some uh workforce uh which is sorely needed as well.

So uh I'm just here on behalf of uh discipleship 33 speaking in favor of uh adopting and approving this uh change and this adjustment to uh make this possible.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Lawrence.

Anyone else on the right side?

Back of the room.

I'm gonna go back on this side, and okay, yes, sir.

Good afternoon.

My name is uh Ronnie A.

Rant.

I am the executive director of discipleship 33, and I'm also the current program director of the home of grace.

Um I just want to be here to kind of inform everybody of what we are about.

So there's a lot of misconception that we're just gonna be taking people off the street and putting them in the housing, and that is absolutely what we're not about.

So each individual that comes to us will have to complete an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment.

You know, um, even if someone is incarcerated coming out of jail, they would have to complete an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment before coming to us.

Um, the the thing about it is is you know, there's a lot of issues with the terminology and wording.

City of Biloxi does not have but two options.

That's halfway house or inpatient drug and alcohol rehab.

We are definitely not an inpatient drug and alcohol um facility.

We are the next step after that.

We provide job opportunities.

Um yes, we do uh have counseling options.

We do have groups and we have all this, but none of this is housed, none of this takes place in the house.

This is all outsourced thing, off-site thing that they will be seeing counselors off-site.

They'll be going to AA meetings, NA meetings, off-site.

None of that is taking place, but in the house, but actual residents living in the house, bringing rooms with accountability of 247 staff members will live lives in each one of my houses and will definitely be living in this house as well.

Um, direct oversight is by me.

Um, I know you know a lot of people, nobody wants this type of thing in their neighborhood, but I promise you this.

Um this is the most secure facility and operation like this that you will find.

And my track record speaks for itself.

I currently have four houses in the Jackson County area.

We have had no issues in the past two years, no police called, no incidents.

Um, employers call me asking me if I have any guys or any women.

We also serve women in the Jackson County area.

We have a house for women.

Um, and they call me asking because they prefer to hire my guys or my women because they do have accountability.

They are drug tested, they know what they get in whenever they get one of them.

Um and you know, it's not just about helping the residents that we serve, it's about helping the entire community of Biloxi.

That's what we want to do.

We want to be an asset to the um city of Biloxi.

So I am here.

If any questions y'all have, um feel free to ask.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the back of the room?

Oh.

Run out of paper on the back side.

I'm Tom Lenimer.

I work with a lot of veterans.

Guys with addiction.

Probably the biggest thing they talk to me about.

What am I going to do when I get out of treatment?

Both at the BA as well as the Homeland Race.

Want a place to live.

A lot of them are homeless when they went in.

And they could come out homeless if they don't have a place to live.

We have tried very hard, the VA to get HUD assisted housing, various apartment complexes.

Some of them are on Eisenhower Road.

Sometimes they can't make that payment unless they're fully disabled.

If they're partial disabled, they have to find a job.

A lot of them can't drive.

They lost their license.

So they need to be close to bus stops.

And Homagrace is very good at finding employment for some of these guys, especially at Walmart.

You have to give them a chance.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Chief.

John Miller, 113 Robert Circle, Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

I just wanted to take a minute and tell you I'm I'm familiar with all three of these groups.

I've worked closely with them over the years, and they they have always done exactly what they said they would do.

They control their properties very well.

There's never been any issues there.

My capacity as a police chief, I certainly checked into them knowing that they were asking for this here in Biloxi.

And uh he's absolutely right.

There's been no issues with any properties in Pascagoa.

They all they all three do a great job and a service that that we need here in Biloxi.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Anyone else would like to be recognized to speak?

Citizen comments are now closed.

Move on to the policy agenda.

Item A, first reading.

Ordinance to approve a comprehensive zoning map amendment within a section of East Biloxi to foster development since Hurricane Katrina.

Have a motion.

So move.

So move.

All right.

Move by Mr.

Gray.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Creel.

This is the first reading.

Next item.

Ordinance to a move text within the land development ordinance for moving a duplicate record pertaining to cannabis specific uses.

Chair, I entertain a motion.

I'll make that motion.

Move by Mr.

Tuesdale.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Crew.

This is the first reading.

Next item.

Ordinance amending the kind of ordinances creating special classification and acknowledging public policy objective for discounted senior water and sewer rates.

Chair will entertain a motion.

Motion.

I'll make that motion for discussion purposes.

And I do have one question.

Thank you, Mr.

Tuesday.

I need a second to move this for discussion.

Seconded by Mr.

Creel.

This is the first reading, but go ahead, Mr.

Tuzberg.

Right.

Somebody will need to do a little research on this for our next reading.

An estimate of how many households would be affected.

If the senior rate were to be approved.

Just fair enough.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Um Rick, maybe you can answer this.

How many people is on it now?

2,632.

And how many of them has been?

I mean, this is the senior, hate to say it.

How many of them may not be living at this address or altogether?

I have no answer for that.

And that's what this is for, correct?

Well, this is for the AG opinion, in which we're not able to do a discounts for age-based.

What we're able to do, though, is we have researched this, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was able to do a 25% based upon HUD standards.

So what this is going to look at is as we move forward to April, I believe, Peter, if I'm correct, they have are able to come back in, re-register for this, and if they meet the standards that are in this resolution, then they'll get a 25% discount upon their water and sewer at that time.

This is to correct an AG's opinion in which we were able we're not able to give a discount based off age only, but we were able to find this to be able to do 25% off with the HUD standards.

Thank you for clarifying.

Thank you, gentlemen.

That's all I have to do.

Do we have a comment on that?

Yes.

Okay.

One of the standards that you're looking at is based on income.

Is that correct?

There are several different ones that were in the resolution, yes, sir.

Yeah, the income, the uh value of your house.

What else would it be?

Those are the main two.

Okay.

Well, if you're going by the value of the house, so someone living in an apartment or a rental house, how would that affect them?

Yeah, property owner is family water bill.

They have to be the primary water bill payer for that.

So if someone lives in a house uh they inherit it, and it goes above that threshold, but they're they're on uh they're a senior citizen, they have just the social security.

Are they gonna be disqualified because I mean under the current thing we try to tie it to income and the value of the house and the assessed at 125,000 is the tax assessor uh kind of assesses these things low.

They assess it at 80 percent of the value, so uh most people if they're tied to to need if they're in that sort of lower uh value of the house is what we're looking at.

So is there any way we can do where I mean it's the most the first reading, but it seems though if if if a husband and wife and the in the and the husband was the main breadwinner, he's gone and they just happen to have a pretty decent house and she's just barely making it, you know, we look like we're gonna punish her.

She'll get the discount, but she's the one that we're we actually trying to serve.

So either way, we can say either or maybe something like that.

Oh, we could raise that to I mean that that number of the value of the house, we could raise that to 150,000, but I mean that's trying to tie it more to HUD, trying to make it reasonably related to people in need.

So but a hundred in in $50,000 house, it's a lot of people that would need this and qualify financially income-wise.

But they just happen to live in a house that's 125,000, probably half the people in here.

It's not it's not what it would appraise for or what you could sell it for.

It's what's on your property tax bill, what what you're being assessed at your tax value.

So uh we can do a little looking at that, but I would say uh your typical house in ward one.

I don't know how many or ward two, I don't know how many you would have that are going to be assessed at over 125, 150.

I'd have to look at that.

So I want to make sure this becomes an issue, and I'm bringing this back up because you know I'm I'm always going to bring it up.

But what what are our options to fixing that?

If it becomes an issue, uh just to do nothing or to or if the number is not the number needs to be adjusted.

I'm I'm not following the question.

Yeah, what's the process for adjusting and say, okay, maybe 125, 150,000.

Can we go make 175?

How do we adjust?

Is that adjustable?

Yeah, I mean, I think the the value of the house can be adjustable uh by the second reading.

The income level is a little more problematic.

We don't have I don't I'm not really having a problem with the income level.

We're there to help those who cannot afford.

That's obvious.

But if someone happens to live in a house that has a value, but there are mental disabilities, we'll have disability, that doesn't mean they're barely paying any bills.

But that just happens to be the family home that they inherited.

So I don't want them to be stuck.

Very people we try to help, we turn around and hurts.

Yeah, and I can look at 150.

I don't think 150 would be an issue.

Maybe assess value.

I mean, I think typically I like to I like to discuss it more as if you know what would be reasonable.

And we want to have people that are just left out.

A lot of people in ward two, and in ward one in East Biloxi, they're they're never inherited houses.

They they literally inherited those houses.

So when you put that value up there like that, you might be hurting the very people that we're trying to help.

Typically, if they've inherited a house, then there's never you know, it's gonna be assessed at whatever that previous owner had it at.

So I'll look at I'll look in that and try to get some options on that.

Thank you, sir.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Again, this is a first reading.

All right, we'll move on next item.

Resolution appointing director of the department of police for the city of Biloxi.

Chair 10 motion moved.

Moved by Mr.

Tisdale.

Second by Mr.

Gray.

Discussion, Mr.

Tisdale.

Uh no, I've I've known uh Officer D back.

I think you were a canine officer.

You were not a canine, I know that, but I think you were officer that uh would serve service Biloxi High occasionally.

Is that accurate?

Yes, sir.

I was a uh school resource officer, and at the same time I had an explosive canine.

All right, thank you.

That's all I have to add.

That's all you got.

That's all I got.

All right.

Anyone else?

I'll speak.

Yeah.

Mr.

Gray, you were so you seconded it.

We'll get to Mr.

Shoemaker next.

Uh all the posts I've been reading on on uh Facebook about you.

I mean, everybody praise you, talking about how great of a guy you are.

You're gonna do the right thing.

I'm excited for you, but are you sure you want this?

Um I got a bottle of Rolades and uh bottle of aspirin to go, you know, each day now.

Well, I I'm excited for you.

Congratulations, hopefully.

Thank you.

That's all I have.

Mayor Susan Hunt wants to know if she can put her name in the hat.

Okay.

No, I'm just kidding.

Mr.

Shoemaker.

Almighty growing.

Okay.

Okay.

I worked with Chris for a long time at the police department.

Um I was an investigator when Chris was promoted to sergeant.

So he transferred to investigations.

And at least the way I remember this, I took him under my wing.

I absolutely molded Chris to be the investigator and the officer that he is today.

And I mean, I don't want to take credit for your successes, Chris, but I mean that's the way I remember it.

Um I also have plenty, y'all, plenty of stories I could tell.

I'm not so good stories.

However, those are definitely probably stories for another day.

On a serious note, though.

Um, you know, Chris has come up through the ranks.

He came up through the ranks, patrol, canine, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and assistant chief.

He didn't get any of those positions by friends, by family.

Nobody gave him those positions.

Chris earned those positions on his own merit, his integrity, and his worth ethic.

No doubt.

We all know, Chris.

You got some big shoes to fill.

However, that being said, I'm without a doubt beyond positive, Chris, that you are the right man for this job.

Thank you.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Uh just two words.

John Who?

Mr.

Marshall, you have anything?

Uh yes.

Um the time that I spent talking to you and and going over the issues and things like that.

You've always been responsive.

I like that.

Um, I don't know if you're gonna uh beat Mr.

Miller, but I look forward to seeing you trying.

And if you get anywhere close, I think we're gonna be very happy with you.

Thank you.

Um, as far as uh, you know, I'm fighting hard for uh the budget, make sure that your officers are uh compensated and taking care of that you have everything you need.

I will continue to do that.

And I believe this this whole council is gonna be doing that to make sure that you know at least your your plan theory is your playing field is fair and that your your troops, your uh guys are under you, the ladies that are under you, know that we the representatives of the citizens of Biloxi stand with you 100%.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Marshall, Mr.

Nell.

Um, I can't wait to uh work with you on the homeless problem and go out to the broad water, do a little ride along and see what you're all about.

Do it.

Do it.

Chris, uh congratulations uh for being uh nominated.

Uh I'm sure you're gonna get a favorable vote here, crime fighting, uh public safety, dog catching.

Um but look, sharpen up on that donut uh eating contest stuff, man.

Come on.

They had hours to train every day.

That's that's unfair.

Okay.

Chris, you got anything to say before we vote.

Uh uh, first of all, I'd like to thank uh Chief Miller, his leadership over the years, as well as uh uh recommending me.

I'd like to thank the mayor and uh Mr.

Weaver for putting me forward to the council.

Uh we're gonna continue as a department.

We have we're the best police department, the best employees around.

Uh we have a we've been blessed, or I've been blessed for the last 27 years to have the the most supportive community and uh police department can't cannot ask for any more than that.

Uh we're certainly going to continue uh looking at our uh strategic plan moving forward with it and and growing what Chief Miller has uh a great department he has left us with.

And I appreciate him for that.

Thank you, sir.

With that, I think we can call for the question.

All in favor opposed, let the record show unanimous.

All right.

Item E.

Resolution appointing Shane Steele to the Harrison County Emergency Communications Commission.

Chair entertain a motion.

So moved.

Moved by Mr.

Tuesdale.

Thanks, ma'am.

Second by Mr.

Gray, Mr.

Tisdale.

Um nothing other than Mr.

Murphy retired.

We need to have somebody in there.

Okay.

He's a good fellow.

That's all.

Mr.

Gray, anything?

I have nothing.

All right.

Any other comments?

All in favor?

Those opposed.

Motion carries unanimous.

Next item.

Resolution declaring the intention of the mayor and city council to issue general obligation bonds in the amount of 14 million dollars.

Chair entertain a motion by Mr.

Marshall.

Move the table.

Motion to table.

Is there a second?

Gotta get on the table first.

No, you got to put it on the table first.

Move it.

I'll make that motion for discussion purposes.

Thank you, Mr.

Tisdale.

There's a motion to put it on the table for discussion.

I have a second.

What is the motion?

Motion is to move it for discussion.

I'll take.

All right.

Second by Mr.

Creel.

Mr.

Tisdale.

Um.

Yes.

On what items specifically will this $14 million be spent.

This is up to $14 million now is to be determined by the projects that we in in discussion that would be applicable.

Again, the heavy lift, multi-year, things like roofs and generators and those kinds of things will be determined.

This allows us, I think Jason is Thomas is here.

And in the the whole process and why we're doing it right now in this way, is so we can there's uh a couple of events that uh need to be uh that the state bank or the uh uh what's the name of the bank that we have to go to with regard to the Mississippi Development Bank to get on the agenda and to be completed two meetings in a row.

But the list, whatever we decide, whatever you decide, and there have been a number of lists, there's been some up to 28 million dollars worth of stuff on the list that would be determined by you, but this is just to get the process rolling.

Is that not right, Jason?

That's right.

And these are as the mayor saying, these are uh by the term of the bonds uh with tax exempt bonds, which these are which means the owners of the bonds don't pay taxes on the interest income.

Uh cannot have a project that outlives the life of the bonds.

So these are for long-term projects, these aren't for short-term things.

This wouldn't be a lease purchase, say, for example, for a police car.

These are long-term capital projects.

And the amount can be determined by it at that point.

The projects you pick.

All right.

So I think I heard that there were two events.

One is you got to get to the Mississippi Development Bank, and and is that time sensitive?

And if so, when is that meeting?

And if it's uh when is the second meeting?

If we have to be able to do that.

It's on the second, usually on the second Wednesday of the month.

Uh it's a two-step process.

The first step is you go to it for inducement.

That's a simple application.

Uh, and that's really simple.

The second meeting, uh, I have to present a credit package to their credit committee that gets approved before the main board meeting, and then they approve the issuance of the bonds.

At one of those two meetings, a representative of the city has to attend.

It can be literally anybody in the past that's been the mayor, uh, but it can be anybody, any elected official or appointed official of the city.

We did resemble the thing for the uh uh holloway and and the expansion.

That's the 15 million, I think is what it was.

What two?

That's right.

Uh and it's this is this is uh the process you use for what's called a negotiated bond sale.

Yeah, we haven't determined yet whether we'll do it, we'll do a public offering or a private placement, which is where a bank buys the entire bond issue, a commercial bank.

Uh but getting back to the timeline.

So it's a two-month process for the development bank.

And then after that, you put in the documents, your bond attorney Jane Matari uh finalizes the documents.

Uh then you uh go to Chancery Court for validation of the bond.

All of that takes about 60 to 90 days.

So the city is not and it's important to understand too that the city is not on the hook until they actually sign a bond purchase agreement.

At any point in that process, the city could back off for whatever reason, say the market isn't right or just any other reason at all.

Okay, so that that's that's the process roughly.

So there's there's nothing that says we have to approve this right now today.

Uh well, the first step to go to the development bank, what we were hoping to do is go to the development bank at next meeting in February for inducement.

Uh the resolution intent would need to be passed before we go to that meeting.

Okay, so it's at some point I want to know exactly what we're gonna be doing with 14 million dollars.

And I know we've talked off and on, probably for six months.

Mayor, you and I have talked a couple of times, and I think uh one council meeting, Rick, I think you mentioned a couple of things.

But none of us have uh I can't say that.

I have not seen a list of projects and an estimate of what those projects are going to cost.

Um the reason I mentioned that is a I'm curious.

I want to see what's going to be done and where, and I'd also like to know an approximate timeline and what those priorities are for those projects.

But the other thing is the resolution, this is a typical resolution that we've approved in the past, I think, and it is is covers everything, including the kitchen sink.

So what I would like to know is before we do anything much more, maybe it calls for a workshop.

Maybe we'd sit down and talk about exactly what projects we're gonna be paying for with uh with this money if if this bond proposal is approved.

And all we're doing today, I think is this is just an intent to borrow money, correct?

Right.

And then there's there's a protest period too that goes along with that.

Uh the resolution has to be published uh for a couple of weeks in local uh newspaper.

Uh so this is just to kick off the process.

Right, Jason.

And thank you for taking the time to explain that.

Um uh I suspect somebody's going to ask me at some point in the next week.

What are y'all going to spend 14 million dollars on?

And I'd like to be able to tell them what we plan to spend it on.

So that that concludes my comments at this point.

Let me ask you.

You know, is it requ you think today or next week uh this if you're going to table this resolution, do we have the opportunity by next week uh to to get on you know to the to the bank?

Sure.

Uh there may be let me look at my calendar.

Uh what's going to be the second uh Wednesday in February in February.

So we didn't have enough time.

Yeah, and there is a list, and I'm not sure who circ where it circulated, but it's a wish list.

And it's up to 14 million.

So you may not want to do, but again, the heavy duty things like roofs, like generators, like things that are certainly you want to disperse over the course of its lifetime and not all in once that impacts a budget that you have to.

That service is timely, and uh uh the the the timeliness of this bond issue.

Can you and there's some things we're expecting down the road, like in 27 that uh some millage and and again but depending on I think we were shooting at 4.25 interest rate in the in the buffalo, yes.

If we were to borrow all 14 million, the debt service would be favorable, especially in in in the in the coming years where some millage may be dropping off, right?

And that and then I noted that this may be issued in several series and not just a single series, as you said to it it could be this resolution preserves flexibility.

Uh that's another reason you do it in a not to exceed amount, and I typically recommend that that amount be equal to or above what you think you're gonna need as you're putting together actual projects that will be funded.

Uh it's a good term that you use the resolution that you have in front of you is the kitchen sink resolution.

It'll it'll uh allows bond proceeds to be used for any permissible statutory purpose.

So thank you.

Mr.

Queer, all right, quick question.

So you said this is long-term, and and I I've heard you mentioned time and time again where the roofs and the and the generators and air conditioned.

Right.

However, in in this thing, and that that's why I'm in favor of the workshop as well, simply because in this, as it does encompass the kitchen sink, you mentioned long-term, it's not for automobiles.

However, in this thing is automobiles less than 12,000 pounds.

So automobiles uh would have to be greater than 12,000 pounds.

Okay, we even even worse.

So now now we're still talking about automobiles.

So not necessarily as we run through different options on on what our method, at least then borrow the money.

So some of those things we've kind of pulled down the list.

It's still on the list, but there may be better, more uh favorable ways to push those kinds of things.

But obviously, if you want to build a fire station, you could be one of them.

You want to build air, you know, replace air conditioners, generators, heavy-duty stuff that you don't you don't pay for at your house over a year, you know, you you you you you push it you know through the life cycle of your of you uh of your equipment.

And councilman that language you're looking at, that's just part of the uh it's a permissible statutory purpose.

That's why it's there.

Uh as we work through this, as I have in the past for the administration, uh, I typically tend to recommend that equipment, which say for example a fire engine would be over 12,000 pounds and it would qualify for bonds, but I typically recommend that you proceed that through a lease purchase, yes.

So there's just a lot of a lot of questions and and uh I think I would defer my time over to Councilman Marshall at this time.

Really?

Just like that.

Do you want to go next to last or you want to go?

Just from the motion.

But we're well, we're we're still in discussion.

Still in discussion.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

No, I wait after you.

Now uh all my questions have been answered uh uh Mr.

Ted's tail and Jamie.

Do you have anything?

Do you have some questions?

My name is answered.

All right.

I I have a few questions uh to clarify.

Well now you didn't.

This uh and I I think I concur that we should have a workshop, especially since we have four new council members, that we we need to understand it thoroughly before they pull the trigger and just because it's millions of dollars, it affects all seven of our wards, and we should get together as a team collectively to know what we're doing.

So I do agree with that, and we still have time.

Sometimes in the past we've done these measures and we were up against because uh bond rates were fluctuating, going they were real volatile, and uh time was of the essence to make sure we got the lowest possible interest.

It doesn't it seems like they're a little bit more stable now currently.

Is that accurate to say?

Until today.

Uh until today, of course.

You know.

Um anyway, let me let me continue because I I do have a few more uh comments that I want to make on this.

So this is the first uh resolution to get you to go to the MPA.

After this, there'll be another resolution that will come behind this bond resolution.

Understood.

And it requires uh the for us to review all seven councilmen to review that.

That's not the only one either.

There'll probably be a third one uh behind that one as well, correct?

The uh bond resolution would be the last one.

Uh but in all that process, as y'all decide, there's nothing uh legally that says y'all have to have a set project list.

Uh you just need to have a general idea of the project list that it fits the statutory purposes.

Uh but that is to say, it's not like you have to have that project list before you do even the bond representative.

So I'm going to make this general comment.

Paul knows a little bit about this, he's been through some of these bond issues.

So what happens?

We get an amount, call it 10, 14 million dollars.

We have a list uh as well, and then we start to initiate that once we get the bonds issued and we have it to be able to use over how many years do we have to spend it?

Uh three years.

Three years.

Okay.

So we get we get the money, we have three years to make the decisions.

Of course, year to year things can change, priorities can change, but we're making decisions on these monies that are coming through.

But every penny has to pass through this council uh that the administration makes a recommendation.

It doesn't pa they they can't just say we have 14 million and they don't have discretion to go write a check and go buy some.

It requires all those resolutions to purchase or use those funds to come through the council.

And I say this because there are some projects that people say, well, we we borrowed 10 million dollars and we didn't do what we were supposed to do at that fire station or whatever.

And what happens is these expenditure resolutions come through here and we spend the money to improve things, we didn't do, and I'm just using an example, we didn't use that enhancement or or that improvement to the fire station, and then we say, well, I want to specifically name it because that project didn't get done last time.

Well, it didn't get done because these other ones took a little bit more priority and prices go up and all that kind of stuff, so that's that that could uh change the dynamics of it.

But I would agree with uh my colleague that a workshop that's smart to call a workshop so we get this thing right and we have an inclusivity of what we are doing because of uh the far-reaching effects.

I yield my time to uh Mr.

Marshall.

Thank you, sir.

You're welcome.

Marshall thank you sir you're welcome let me start off by saying the fact that this got on the agenda proves my whole point that we have an opportunity to put something on the agenda to discuss it to go to up and down or then call for a workshop but the ordinance is the the resolution is on the agenda.

My problem is that what I was suggesting the resolution that I put forward because of the denial because of technical technicality that's fine it's not on the agenda.

So Marshall that's not what we're discussing with the discussion RMF please we discuss it table.

Okay.

Okay.

It's exactly what we're discussing.

We're discussing table something that's on the agenda.

We are all on the same track.

So we're discussing 14 million dollars and we want we got a mayor that's asking for this to do all different types of projects.

Okay I don't have a problem with that I know we got projects that gotta be done.

What I got a problem with is we need to know exactly what they are we need to know the time frames we need to have time to discuss it.

That's why I'm asking it to be tabled and the fact that I'm able to ask that to be table is because it got on the agenda it was put on in a timely fashion and it made the agenda timeline and people reviewed it and it it checked uh most of the boxes um would you like to make a motion uh to table this or a workshop what would you what what would you like Mr.

President I do have a few things I'm sorry Mr.

Schumacher uh but let me let Mr Marshall finish up first.

Oh Mr Shoe go ahead Mr.

Shoemaker Do we now don't we now have some outstanding bonds?

Do we know the number or the price of the value or what we owe on those?

Yes I do have that if you give me one second pull it back up while you're looking for that I know it it may have been a year or so ago at some point in the past we discussed 10 million recently it was 13 million and honestly I've never seen 14 million until I saw it on the agenda.

That's a lot of money and although I know we need some things some air conditions probably generators and I know right now in the budget that we have now we're short on money but we've got to do better in the future because we can't get bonds every time we need to do maintenance upgrades and work things that probably should be done if we need a roof that roof I'm sure we need it done a year ago two years ago whenever all these things didn't go out at one time or need upgrading or um fixed at one time.

So you know I'm not saying I'm not against this and I know we're not we've got a lot of time between now and and when we hear what's on the uh on the list of things to get accomplished but I do think moving forward in the future we can't rely on a bond to get us out of a jam every time we need something fixed because then we're going to be right here and then next year or the year after I we just asked for I don't know 10 million dollars I think in the last two years.

So what do we do in two more years if we spend all this money and we need something else we don't have any money so hey let's just go get another bond.

At some point we have to figure, be fiscally responsible with the money we have and the money we get to fix and repair and do maintenance on the things that need maintenance.

If we need to take money and it's going to cost X amount of dollars then we need to figure hey it's gonna take us this amount of time and start finding that money or getting that money before we just every time use a bond as a bailout.

That's just my opinion.

I'm sorry did you find that?

Uh no I just was going to say that uh generally speaking and I tell this to all my clients governmental clients uh long-term bonds should be matched to those long-term uses of money it all depends on where your general fund is at the time I never recommend spending down your general fund reserves when relatively low cost financing is available for these things that last forever you need to keep that powder dry in the general fund that's what protects your bond rating I think uh let me let me add to not to pat ourselves me and you on the back but from the use of our bonds in the past have been in your opinion outstanding.

You think they have and and that's the reason one of the reasons we've done that is to keep our our our double A minus rating which no other place in no other municipality has.

It's a very strong that bond strategic if you look at what comes off what goes off and what we have to spend I I know the roof at the public safety center has been a problem since I become mayor.

We reduce that by 200,000 a month.

Yeah.

By the use of pre-financing and those instruments that you know, Jason is been and Jason and Jane have been advising.

It's timely.

It's the time to pull the trigger.

Uh I don't know what happened today though, Jason.

You tell me.

But the uh because of what's going on with uh Greenland and the economic summit and in Switzerland, uh the market was a little bit volatile today.

Uh stock market went down significantly.

Um bond market went down too, which means interest rates went up.

Anyway, the timeliness of what we use it, how much we use it is gonna be up to you.

Every every single project, y'all go y'all will pick.

Sure.

We don't have to spend any of it if we don't uh I'd like I'd like to hear from Jane Minardi.

Uh she's worked with us.

Jane.

I was just still wondering that that's okay.

I was just we know and and I'm not putting you on the spot, I apologize.

But so we don't know.

I saw somewhere I thought it was upwards of 40 or maybe 50 million is what we owe now.

Does that sound correct?

Approximately 50 million of general obligation debt, maybe a little bit less, uh, depending on the payments, uh any payments have been made recently.

Uh but that's the general obligation debt of the city.

That's not all the debt, that's the debt of the city has pledged its taxing power for it.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

And our capacity would still be up, what, 50 million?

After after this bond.

Yeah.

Capacity to borrow.

I'd just like to clarify we currently have 49 million in general obligation bonds outstanding.

One of our series of bonds that's gonna be paid off completely on April 1, 2027.

That's the series 2012 bonds, and we've been paying half a million a year in those bonds.

So that goes away in April of 27.

In November of 27, we have a tax increment bond that we issued refinancing bond that we issued in 2016.

That's been costing us, I think 2.4 million a year.

That will be paid off in November of 27.

And so our financial advisors have been telling us that with these new bonds, if you choose to issue them, they can structure them so that the payments will be lower the first couple of years, and then when those other bonds go away, look kind of like getting a raise, like when my children got out of college, I felt very rich.

Um, there will be more room to pay for them.

The $14 million bonds that are being discussed, if we issue it up to that amount, would cost about between a million and $1.1 million a year in debt service if we can issue them between four and four and a half percent, which is what we're hoping for.

I don't predict interest rates.

So, and I know you just said it, but just I'm sorry.

Yeah, come on.

No, go ahead.

So by the end of 27, November of 27, the way it looks that the city would be saving on those bonds that were paid off around three million dollars.

Plus to that year.

A year, yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

So you you're telling us that uh right now the money that we're talking about to meet is going to cost the city about how much the citizens 1.1 million a year per year.

We do 20 year bonds.

If you do 20 years, we do 30 million.

So we're gonna encumber the citizens 1.1 million dollars a year to borrow this money.

That's what it will cost, yes.

For how many years?

If we do a 20-year bond.

For 14 million dollars.

Correct.

So what would the total payment be?

One one point one times twenty years.

Twenty million, twenty-one million.

But you have three point something rolling off by twenty twenty-seven.

Yeah.

So we're gonna pay.

You know, net.

So for to get fourteen million, we're gonna spend twenty-one, twenty-two million dollars.

Okay, over time.

Okay.

Yeah, but we don't look like we're borrowing money to to do general repairs and things like that, and we in common, we're not invested anything in order to get a higher sales rate in order to get higher sales income coming in.

I have a problem with that.

That's the problem.

I have I don't have a problem with the more what we're borrowing the money.

But I have a problem with how we're gonna pay for it, how we're gonna use any of the funds in order to invest in order to get a return on anything.

Well, I watch the other cities, they're investing, and this has nothing to do with you.

If you want to move, you can move.

I don't want you to think I'm talking to you.

But we we're we're doing a workshop, we're gonna do a workshop, I believe.

But I want to be able to discuss in that workshop, Mr.

Mayor, what are we gonna do in order to see a return?

Uh besides us just getting uh uh uh bills in one point one million dollars.

So we have areas that we need to build into award seven, we we had next.

Uh uh we need to develop things out there.

So yeah, workshop is gonna be necessary.

So I'm gonna stick with my motion.

Any other discussion?

Mr.

Marshall, would you like to make a recommendation suggestions, such as a workshop or something and table this until the table workshop?

All right, table it and have a workshop when what's a good time?

I mean it's seven of us.

That's that's what we're here to to vet.

Anybody want it Tuesday?

Tuesday.

Okay, if we is it out of order to say since you guys were pushing the workshop.

Is it gonna be too fast?

Do the workshop on the other agenda item that I couldn't get on the agenda?

We're not discussing that right now.

I think how that would work, Peter, is that we the I think the intent that I heard earlier is to try to get a resolution.

Uh on I'm talking about the the other one with splitting up seven wards, get it on the agenda, table that for a workshop, uh work study or whatever you call it, and then we'll kind of do kind of treat it just like we're doing this uh 14 million dollars.

Do that I think that's what the intent is.

Or you can put it on if you're okay with that.

No, I'm actually not okay with that, but it's the same thing we're doing with this bond.

It's a similar thing.

So you what you did was stall me for.

Well, we'll get we'll get you on the agenda, just submit it timely and and and all that kind of stuff, and we'll we'll get it there.

Really?

So let's let's back up.

Do you your motion is to council?

I think I think under the under the order it would be on the study agenda.

It's on the agenda, but it's on the study agenda.

Correct.

But you can move the order of when you want to have that study agenda is basically a workshop.

And you can move the order of that around.

Okay.

All right.

But on this uh next Tuesday, everybody okay with Tuesday morning.

Quite next Tuesday morning.

Okay.

Um let's just be clear.

This study agenda.

We hadn't done this in nine years.

Okay.

And all of a sudden now we're still studying.

Apples apples to oranges a little bit.

No.

Um good Tuesday morning.

All right.

Mr.

Tuesday is good with Tuesday.

Anybody have a conflict with Tuesday morning?

We need a second.

Nine o'clock.

Okay.

With everybody, is that too early?

Ten o'clock?

Ten o'clock.

You can Skype in if you want.

Another uh ideas Monday afternoon.

Which one works better for everybody?

Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning.

As long as we want to hear five five o'clock on Monday, because Mr.

Mail has a ward meeting.

Oh, yeah.

Well, if we had a study, we won't have to go to the war meeting.

Just if it's when's the next council meeting.

Uh Tuesday.

We're gonna leave it Tuesday, uh 10 o'clock.

Okay with everybody.

When's the next council meeting?

27th.

Week from the day, 27th.

So this would be Tuesday.

Saturday at 10 o'clock.

So we have a meeting and then so we have the meeting next Tuesday.

It's not gonna be on the count, it's not gonna be on the agenda.

What's that?

So we're gonna have to think about something that's already we're tabling it for a week.

We're tabling it for a week, and we're setting up the workshop.

We're we're we're putting on the workshop.

If something comes out of that workshop that we need to table this bond thing again, we'll table it again.

But uh that seems to be the reasonable thing to do and prudent thing to do to it's reasonable.

I still trying to get it clear.

I know, but let's stick with this and why we haven't discussed.

Talk about the other stuff.

If it's we'll do it this way for your buddy in agreement with Tuesday.

I need a second on that motion.

Is there a second on the motion to have it Tuesday at 10 o'clock?

Next Tuesday at 10 o'clock.

Table.

Right.

All right.

I need I let me council members listen to this.

We're discussing about a workshop, but what's on uh Mr.

Marshall is uh I think made a motion to table it for one week.

Do I have a second on that motion?

Second, second by Mr.

Crew.

Any discussion, Mr.

Marshall?

Yes, but I'm just going back to the same point.

The rules seem to be a little bit more.

We're not discussing the discussing the motion to table.

We're discussing the motion.

We're gonna table the subject.

We're gonna table something on the same day that's gonna the items already on the agenda.

If it's gonna be tabled for Tuesday, then it needs to be on the agenda the next week after.

But do you want to table it for two weeks instead of one week?

I would like I'll write the table for one week and put it on the agenda the week afterwards, based on what we come up with.

If it's already on the agenda, the agenda is already typed up and published, then why are we having the study?

If you want to table it for one week and put it on the agenda the following week, you want to table it for two weeks in essence.

All right.

We have one the first night meeting in the now will not run in with the timeline to turn it in, because it's going to be on the second week in February.

It's still in time.

If we're going to be second week we will still be good.

Two weeks, we'll table it until the Tuesday, February third meeting, which is a night night meeting.

Perfect.

We got the y'all okay with that.

The administration, y'all okay with February third.

I go forward.

I think the meeting is back to us.

Um the meeting of the development bank is the second Wednesday of February.

So we got pretty much.

I'm going to restate one more time.

Mr.

Marshall is uh recommending that we table it for two weeks to February third.

Senator It's not clear if that's enough time for the development bank.

I just wanted to clarify one thing.

When when we if and when we adopt the resolution of intent, we have to publish it and see if we get objections and have to have an election.

Um the development bank sometimes doesn't want to pass their first resolution until that period has passed, which might push us into March for their first meeting.

Sometimes they have made an exception and gone ahead and done it anyway.

So um I can't promise you we could get induced at their February meeting.

We might get pushed back to March, but that's the case if you adopt it today as well.

Everybody over if it gets pushed back to March so we can look at this thoroughly and understand what we're doing.

Yes.

You're good.

All right, two weeks.

Mr.

Tuesday, you you seconded it to two weeks?

I do.

Table in sure.

We need a Mr.

Crew uh seconded for two weeks.

No, Jamie did that.

All right.

All what any other discussion?

What time?

It's a six o'clock meeting.

It's six o'clock.

Y'all want to do it at four o'clock?

Or is that no, no, it's two different things.

One is table is still next week.

Yeah, the workshop, we're not getting touched it yet.

Okay.

Okay.

All in favor to table it for two weeks, February third.

All opposed.

Motion carries.

And then we will have a workshop next Tuesday at 10 o'clock on Tuesday.

I move that we have a workshop next Tuesday at 10 o'clock.

Uh discuss this uh bond.

Mo motion by Mr.

Marshall.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Crilly, beat you by those.

Any discussion?

Yes, I'd like to make sure that all the things that we're going to be voting on as far as the expenditures, where it's going to go.

I'd like to have a full list of that and a clear understanding so we won't be going back and before when we come to the meeting with the meeting to be as productive as possible so we know exactly where this 14 million dollars or up to 14 million dollars is going.

Uh we don't want Indian widows.

We don't want things like possibly using it.

No, we want to know exactly what we're doing before we incombert the citizens of Biloxi.

Is that it?

Yeah, that's discussed.

Good deal.

All right.

All in favor of the workshop?

Those opposed?

Motion carries.

Move on to the next item.

Resolution authorizing facility rental agreement with Mississippi Department of Employment Security and approving a waiver of a sent facility rental fees for the Bloxy Civic Center.

We'll make that motion.

Move by Mr.

Tisdale.

I'll second.

Second by Mr.

Schumacher, Mr.

Tisdale.

Yeah.

No, I got you.

Um I'm in favor of a job sayers, job fare.

It's military and civilian.

If I understand correctly, that's all I have.

Mr.

Schumacher?

I agree with that.

Any other discussion?

No, sir.

All in favor.

Those opposed?

Motion carries.

Unanimous.

Next item.

Resolution authorizing facility rental agreement with Gulf Coast Running Club and approve any reduction of facility rental fees for the Point Cadet Pavilion.

Chair and motion for discussion.

I'll make a motion for discussion.

I have a second.

I'll second it.

Second it uh Mr.

Gray.

Um doesn't sound like a lot of money, $500.

I'm assuming this is 50%.

Is this 50% or the complete?

If it date is a couple of hours, not a whole day.

Is this 50% or the complete waiving of the entire amount?

It says reduction.

50 percent.

I want to clarify is it a reduction or is it for the rental fee?

Anyone here representing them?

Can somebody come up and tell me what this is for?

Yes, sir.

Um Leonard Burgunds, the Alpha Course Running Club.

Uh nonprofit organization.

Uh we uh assist charities uh and uh we uh have a rental agreement um for three times a year for the uh pavilion.

And uh I think this is a fifty fifty percent reduction.

Uh the uh fee was a thousand, and uh because we're nonprofit and it's a charity, uh they've reduced it.

Uh the resolution is reduced uh $100.

Okay.

Thank you for clarifying that it was a 50 percent reduction.

Do y'all charge for y'all's runners to enter?

We uh break even.

Uh we we charge 20 dollars uh per runner.

They get T-shirts, awards, freshmans.

Uh we have a uh nonprofit organization, uh and then uh any proceeds that are made are given to the charity uh for this particular event is the disability connection, and uh most of the the funds that they raise come through um sponsorships, logos on the back of t-shirts, uh small amount of money for charity and no money for us.

Okay, how how long is this event usually last?

Uh it's a 5K, it lasts an hour.

We're there uh about an hour ahead to set up.

Uh that lasts an hour, about 30 minutes to pick up at 1030, we're out.

So all the money goes to uh y'all donate to a uh uh disability issue.

Yes.

And then the following month, we have an uh an event with the uh Hibernia uh marching society.

Uh it's a little fundraiser for their um parade.

Uh and they rent us to uh facilitate the race for them.

And then uh and then we have one in November for the uh Carnival Association three times a year, same course, same pavilions, same agreement.

Okay.

That's all I have for the case.

Mr.

Creel.

So, Chief, if you could uh now that you're chief, how many how much uh uh resources do we dedicate to these three events a year um for for his race?

Okay.

So usually on the the bridge runs, it's anywhere from uh uh two to five officers uh because all we have to do is watch the intersection there, like Margarita Bell, uh Golden Nugget.

Yeah, it's it's it's just setting up things and and monitoring it from there on that specific, Ron.

I thought he was talking about the Ocean Springs Bridge.

Yeah, so no no streets are shut down or no, sir.

Okay.

All right.

Any other discussion?

All in favor?

Those opposed?

Motion carries five, two?

One tradition.

Uh do I need to appear here uh for each one of the three every year?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Things may change.

Okay.

All right.

Next item.

Resolution authorizing facility rental agreement with the Mississippi Sheriff's Association and approving a waiver of facility rental fees and waiver of security deposit for the point cadet pavilion.

Chair entertain a motion.

I'll make that motion.

Mr.

Tisdale.

Second.

Second by Creel.

Mr.

Tisdale.

Um nothing more to say.

Mr.

Creel?

I believe they can handle the security as well.

Mr.

Gray?

Nothing.

Anyone else?

All in favor?

Opposed?

Motion carries unanimous.

Let's get to our majestic trees.

Resolution designated Majestic Tree at 151 St.

Charles Avenue.

Chair and a motion.

Award one.

I'll make it.

Mr.

Gray, do I have a second?

I'll say.

Mr.

Creel, Mr.

Gray.

I have nothing.

Mr.

Creel.

I second his motion.

All right.

Any other discussion?

Yeah.

Um just a couple of things I want to point out.

Uh if the tree, if the tree committee approves and that designation is also approved by the mayor and the city council, then any permit involving such majestic tree will, at the expense of the applicant, require an ISA certified arborist who should be tracked TRAQ tree risk assessment qualified to perform a determination of risk prior to any permitting involving said majestic tree.

The reason I mention that is it's an additional protection that current protected trees do not have.

I don't know.

I just wanted to point that out so everybody's clear on that.

Thank you, Mr.

Tisdale.

Um any additional discussion by anyone?

All in favor?

Those opposed.

I'm sorry.

We just sitting there.

I I was just going to say that that arborist.

I I was just going to say that that arborist on that already, so you can uh vote or comment on the next section because we got several of these.

But with the if if there is no objection from the council, I would like uh for us to vote collectively on items L through L through O, I'm sorry, K through K through O.

Uh all of them are similar without objection.

I would like to uh vote on all of these collectively unless uh individual conversation needs to be made by anybody on specifics.

I'm okay with that, but if we're gonna vote like that, then he needs to go ahead and speak.

We are.

Um we're gonna make a motion to move it, let them uh speak, and then we're gonna vote on it.

I'll make a motion move.

All right, Mr.

Gray, thank you for the motion.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second by Mr.

Creel.

Mr.

Gray.

No, I have nothing.

I mean in majestic trees.

I mean, uh everybody needs to, you know, their family grew up many, you know, hundreds of years watching these things grow.

So I have nothing else.

Thank you, Mr.

Creel.

Nothing further.

Mr.

Creel, I wasn't talking to you.

Mr.

All I was gonna add is that when someone wants to trim the tree, the ordinance also says that the property owner bears the expense of hiring that certified arborist to do the assessment of the tree.

That's all.

Thank you for that, Mr.

Creel.

Any other discussion by anyone?

Any of these specifics?

All in favor?

Items K through O.

Those opposed?

Items K through O pass unanimous.

We'll move on to item P.

K through O.

Wait a minute, go back.

Did we do J?

We did.

Did we do J?

We did.

We did.

Okay.

That was the first one we did, and then we did the others collectively.

Resolution granting conditional use approval to authorize an existing G Plex as a short-term rentals for 1541 Collins Street A and B.

Thank you.

Chair entertain a motion for this item related to Ward 4, Ward 1, I'm sorry.

I'd like to make a motion for discussion.

Motion to discuss by Mr.

Gray.

Is there a second?

Is there a second?

Yeah, I'll second it.

Seconded by Mr.

Neil.

Go ahead, Mr.

Gray.

Mr.

Creel, can you come up?

On this piece of property, they have a lot of issues with it, I guess, or concerns, maybe this is two separate rooms, right?

I guess apartments.

It's a duplex.

It's a duplex.

So is this due place considered commercial?

Since it's a duplex?

No, one in two family dwellings are considered residential.

Get above uh two plex, then it becomes commercial.

All right.

Would it be in a wanting to become a short-term rental?

Does this consider it commercial?

I mean because it that it's in a different category, correct?

It it falls into uh what's called visitor accommodations in the LDO.

It could be classified as it's quasi, commercial and residential at the same time.

But it's essentially being used as a hotel.

Correct.

So when a hotel has a different wiring and different things in that to make it a hotel than a home, right?

Residential?

What we agreed to do on that was that uh if it were uh a hotel converting over or if it were new construction of a multi multi-family facility, that they would be required to go with the wiring requirements.

Otherwise it would just be the uh regular Romex, but uh own a uh elevated structure, which is what this is, it would have to have a secondary means of egress independent from the main one, meaning basically two sets of stairs independent of each other to get out.

And and is this does this have that already on there?

Uh not yet, but uh the owner has uh that came up and the owner has agreed to do that if this is approved.

So the footprint is over 65 percent of the property, correct?

Square footage on this one?

Uh yes, sir, but it's it's still allowed because the uh the density allowance in RM 30 is 30 units per acre.

And uh the uh if you do the math on this, they would actually be allowed to do two point almost 2.5 units.

And of course, we always round that down.

They are allowed to do two units on this piece of property under the LDO.

Correct.

Um I mean, I just don't agree that we need short-term rentals in all the RM 30s and 20s.

I think we are tens.

I think we need to try to move them out of there.

Um I I would not be in favor um of this being a short-term rental.

That's all I have.

All right.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray.

Who's who's second?

Mr.

Mr.

Nale.

Any anyone else have any questions or comments on this?

I I have a couple.

Um are there any other short-term rentals uh on these other RM 30 properties?

We have we have short term rentals.

I'm talking about on adjacent to this Collins Street, along Collins Street.

Um any of these short term rentals beside the one in question.

Not yet.

I think the two applications that have come forward were both denied.

Uh that was by Pastor George.

All right.

Let me ask you is there any opposition from any of these uh RM30 properties?

I'm not talking about the ones across the street necessarily on Collins Street, but the ones on the side of Collins Street that has RM30s.

We've not we've not received any that I'm aware of.

No.

All right.

The parking do they meet the parking requirements uh for the number of beds or dwellings or whatever uh that's in this uh short term rental?

They have room on the property to accommodate the the number of bedrooms that they have, yes.

Okay.

Any other comments, Mr.

Clear on this?

Just uh, you know, one of the concerns about this is that uh the neighbors across the street were fearful that short-term rental might encroach over into that area, but when you cross College Street to the north, it's single family residential where short-term rental is not allowed, and any attempt to change that zoning would have to go before the planning commission.

Is there anyone here today that's in opposition to this development?

Anyone at the council meeting today that's in opposition?

I I've been getting phone calls if people not want.

Okay.

Council, you all have any other questions?

If there isn't, I'll call for the question.

All in favor, all opposed.

Motion carries unanimous.

Next item.

Excuse me, council.

Nope.

Was a motion to deny.

Deny.

Okay.

Next item.

Resolution granting conditional use to authorize a halfway house located at 2793 Fernwood Road.

Chair entertain a motion in this case regarding Ward 5.

Who moved?

Moved by Mr.

Tisdale.

Do I have a second?

I'll second it.

Mr.

Tisdale.

Yes, uh, Chair, thank you for being there already.

All right.

Um I looked over the and I appreciate everybody coming and speaking today.

On both sides of the issue.

Um looking through the planning commission meeting, I I noticed that you noted there were really two designations.

One was as a group, not a group home.

Um was as a as a halfway house, and the other was as a social services agency.

Now there's also a third classification called a group home.

A group home though uh requires support and supervisory personnel providing room and board to residents with disabilities.

Correct.

That's that that's clearly not the case here.

Okay.

So you're left with an LDO definition of a halfway house or a social service agency.

Um looking at the social service agencies, kind of you could go either way, I th I think, based on a general reading of this.

However, the social service agency is a facility operated by a non a facility operated by a nonprofit organization that provides services.

So people walking in the street would have access to these services.

You or I might have access to these services, but nobody's actually residing on the property.

It's a business like any other business.

Correct.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

And then we get to the halfway house, and this is a licensed home for juveniles or adult persons on release for more restrictive custodial confinement, or initially placed in lieu of such more restrictive custodial confinement, wherein supervision rehabilitation and counseling is provided to assist residents back into society, enabling them to live independently.

I've spoken with all the council members up here in previous days, and there's um there's some concern with the language to be to be fair, and I think what the operative word here, let me find my spot here, is uh excuse me for the halfway house, is custodial confinement.

And then the question excuse me, the question is are is whoever going to be living at this property, are they in somebody's custody?

And I I would interpret that not necessarily.

I don't think you have to get it doesn't say anything about incarceration or being incarcerated.

Um I don't know if you're in in somebody's custody.

In this case, these residents could leave voluntarily, so they're not being restrained against their will.

Uh to my knowledge, none are on probation.

And I know that Mr.

Mr.

Aaron's still here.

So he's here to ask answer specific questions related to this.

But I I know that's correct me if I'm wrong, just a thumbs up or a head shake, language concerns some of you.

Um that being the case, Jerry, I go ahead and speak, please.

Uh whenever an application comes in or any type of use, part of my responsibility is to categorize that use into what is clearly the category in the LDO, or into the category that's closest to defining whatever is being applied for.

When uh the application was submitted, there is no question, no question in my mind that what they're asking for was a halfway house.

And if you read through the minutes from the planning commission meeting, what was described there was clearly a halfway house, not a social service agency.

Again, a social service agency is an agency where people come from their residence, they live somewhere else, and they come there just to access those facilities.

That's not what's being described here.

So, you know, the the comments that were made that we're not following the ordinance or or not following the law, or just that's not true.

We are following the law.

This was the closest definition to it, and based on what was in the application and what was stated at the meeting, there's no question in my mind that this is a halfway house.

Um I think there was some concerns from some of the neighbors that this was going to be like a homeless shelter where people would just be hanging around.

And I don't know if Ms.

Dina mentioned this or not, but these people are required to work, they're required to have a job.

They don't stay there all day long.

They have to get on the bus, they have to go to their job, come back.

There are very strict regulations.

And uh with uh homes of grace being involved in this, I'll tell you, we've had a lot of experience working with homes of grace on some other code enforcement properties that we had, most notably is country living mobile home park up on 67 that used to be a code enforcement nightmare.

And when they took it over, they have cleaned that place up, and we've never had another complaint about it again.

So uh I'm clear that it's a halfway house.

I I'm not sure that changing the language would be the solution.

Um it's uh it's clearly, in my opinion, it's clearly not a social service facility if you look at the definitions that are in there.

So sometimes we we have um situations where terminology is important.

Uh that uh one example I can think of is short-term rentals and Kenny and I, and it was four-year time, David, mercifully.

Short-term rentals, I mean, we actually approved an ordinance.

Uh, excuse me, we were approving short-term rentals before we even had an ordinance on the books.

But that's a good example.

I'm sure my suspicion is that years ago they'd have done the same thing with timeshares, because it's a different kind of animal, if you will, that requires some thought about what you're gonna do.

Um I'll leave it right here at at the moment, but I'm curious to hear discussion from my colleagues up here.

I got a couple and there I'll get to you, Jamie.

Um I agree that's it it is looks like it's going in an area that it's not necessarily intruding on uh single-family homes.

I I seem to agree with that looking at it.

That's one.

It that could be interpreted different ways.

Two, I agree that there's a need for this in our community.

It works in a lot of other communities that have a halfway house uh that helps people make that next step and then to uh completely re attempt to rehabilitate themselves.

However, as Paul alluded to, I think there's some verbiage.

It's it's got a little bit of vagueness to some degree with it.

And it like he, I think his words were this, it could be either almost or depending on how you look at it almost.

Uh one question I have, where would this be allowed by use by right commercial or even if you went up to the next level, which is what uh some of the opponents were arguing that why don't we do a zoning change and go up to what would allow it?

The lowest zoning that would allow it is community business, which is the analogy entertainment.

I just wanted to know where where is it.

Yeah.

The the problem we have, I think this it could be it could be challenged if I disagreed with the verbiage and and it appears that uh it needs to be a little bit more clarified, not for the purpose of changing the zone to meet a particular need, but ensuring that we were writing our ordinances in a in a manner that people can interpret them and not say, well, it could go either or so I I don't know what Paul's intentions are, but uh I I would like to see it uh be reworked in some manner before I'm comfortable with it.

That's my comments.

Mr.

Creel.

Uh just a couple points, not to belabor it at all.

Um first of all, I applaud I applaud Homer Grace and and what they do.

They're they're a great organization and been around a long time and done a lot of good.

So this isn't about their mission at all.

It doesn't uh it's not to um deter them in any means.

But reading both, so the halfway house, and I understand they own the halfway house, but the language and halfway house, uh they won't always own that house, so that conditional use will travel with the property.

So in the event something happens and that house changes hands, then it could operate as a halfway house where someone has a convicted felon could be moved in and it could be used in different capacity.

Um the the definitions uh license home for juveniles and adult persons on release from more restrictive custodial confinement as opposed to a social service agency, a facility operated by a nonprofit organization for substance abuse counseling housing services.

I I think they're more of the latter than they are the halfway house um and and just based on uh that right there uh in agreement with uh uh the council president.

I'm I'm just not comfortable with the with the language.

I would rather us look at the zoning to move it to a zoning that would qualify for what they're actually trying to do rather than finding something that's close enough to it.

Thank you, Mr.

Creole.

Any other discussion?

Any other discussions?

Uh with Mr.

Tizdale.

Did you see an alternative solution or where were we going?

Well I'm gonna use Jerry's phrase.

In my mind, I look at these two and what's what's the distinction?

One is there's a business where people come and go and they offer services.

The other is, such as a halfway house, it's somebody living there, in this case for a specified purpose.

But some of some of you, not all of you, but some of you had issues about the word custody.

And I think that's what a custodial or cleaning up the language.

I think that's what I heard from my two colleagues to the left.

I'm interested in in the rest of you, what comments you might have to make or what your concerns are.

Uh because it maybe I might want to uh look at clarifying that language.

So are you uh do you want a table to clarify or what do you want to do?

I'd like to hear from the other council members first.

Yes, sir.

Um I I think we need this.

I think we need more of these around here.

I mean, to help the people, nobody's trying to help.

These people out here are trying to help these people.

See, no problem with it at all.

I rode by there today, it's a good location, right by De Bees Road.

Don't look like there's any houses right around here, maybe some apartments over to the side, but I see no problem with it.

Mr.

Dale, one of the one of the things that uh Mr.

Aaron made very clear during their presentation is how strictly these people are vetted before they're even accepted into the program.

They they do a thorough check on them to make sure that you know that we're not getting people in there that are going to create problems there.

And they're putting them to work too.

That's what we need, workers.

I don't I and again, I think I state I don't I don't dispute the work and the ability and the competence, but we have this ordinance that tomorrow or next month or next year it could be affecting another area in one of our wards that okay, we interpret it this way, and it should be interpreted that way in a similar area in another ward when it it may not it may not really fit, but we've set a precedence with the verbiage that we have, and I just think it would be prudent for us to clean that verbiage up.

And again, we're not questioning the vet how they vet their their clients or who who stays in the house or or their program.

Uh it's the designation of the zoning and and the and the language.

Anyone else?

Yes.

Jerry, how many of these do we have in the city of Bloxy?

Um This may be the first one that that I'm aware of that uh actually does this.

Now we've got some other locations that are called Oxford houses where people live together as a group, and we really have no regulation over them.

There we've we've been through some court cases on those before where uh we got interpretations that they were allowed, but uh but for this type of operation where you have the resident supervisor living in the uh establishment with the four people that will be in here, I think that this may be the first one that we have.

So we have other, I guess, group homes, I guess, as the Oxford houses.

We do we do have some we do have some group homes, and we do have some places that offer more specialized treatment, like down the road, you know, there's uh uh a conditional use that was approved for people to get certain types of medical treatments to go along with it.

But uh this is the first one that I think specializes in what we're talking about today.

Right.

So I mean, we we set up here and we look at the homeless population, we look at how many of them that are on some type of uh drugs and that need help, and we have somebody sitting here willing to help people, and that you know, I just can't see where you know we're going to deny them when they're trying to help somebody.

And but we're gonna turn around and look at the homeless population all over Bloxy, and we're trying to figure out a way to help them, but we're gonna not help somebody trying to help them.

I I've got two things too I'd like to point out.

Um if this went back, let's say somebody suggested get them to change the zoning.

Uh it probably would not go through because the property is so small there, it would be considered spot zoning.

And those things typically don't go through because you know, I mean, you're you're putting C B zoning in the middle of neighborhood zoning.

Right.

The other thing too is that if you look at this property, everything around it is commercial.

Everything around it is commercial except for the apartments over on the east side, and there's like a 15-foot wooded buffer between this structure and those apartments, and those apartments face the opposite direction.

But as you go down Fernwood, most of the things along Fernwood are commercial.

So it's it's kind of a quasi operation like we talked about, in the middle of commercial uses that are there, and uh the apartments being the only quasi-residential that's in that area.

The department says how far away from this establishment?

I would I would say probably 20 feet away facing the other direction.

There's a main building there.

But there's a wooded buffer between the two where uh you just about can't see one from the other.

And we don't vet who's living in them apartments.

No, sir.

We have no clue what they're doing.

No involvement.

At least here, this coalition coalition has done so much good for people in Biloxi and throughout the South Mississippi.

So I mean, I just I just can't deny them when we're gonna sit there and look at the homeless population and have fun walking around on some type of drugs, but we're gonna deny these people.

I I just can't.

Um I support it 100 percent.

Could could this go into like a uh building in RM 30?

If there was a building in RM 30, could this uh qualify for conditional use?

It's it's not allowed there.

Are there any other condition you said there's several businesses or any of those businesses conditional use?

Well, you know, uh several of them are in Gulfport across the city.

The one right down the road that was approved in the Augusta House uh it's associated with the South Mississippi task aids AIDS AIDS task force.

And it was approved, Kenny, and you may it's like seven, seven or eight years ago.

It's a seven unit residential area for families.

Okay structure for families.

But however this goes, I still think that verbiage we need to look at it.

Uh it just uh why if we know that it's a little gray, why would we continue uh to let it be interpreted by the general public and everything?

And it just seems like it needs to be cleaned up a little bit.

That's all I have.

Uh anybody else?

Mr.

Crew?

So so the one you mentioned that's down the road, would what what's it should uh labeled as its conditional use?

Is it a halfway house?

It it's not a it's not a halfway house.

It it's actually a uh a uh medical type facility.

Uh but so we for you that it's in.

So what is its conditional use designation?

Do we do we know what that is?

I'm going by memory.

Yeah, no, no, no, that you've been here longer than I have.

I'm I'm going by memory, but I believe we classify that as a public health center, a public health center, which is conditioned in NB zoning.

Okay.

And I can verify that for you.

Yeah.

So so public health, all right.

So if you have a neighboring business or a business that is adjacent to a halfway house, uh do you, in your uh humble opinion, would that represent the character of the neighborhood, or would it deter the the sale or lower the property value of being a being designated halfway house?

Take disciple 33, take Homer Grace, take all of that out of it, and it's called a halfway house.

So is a halfway house determined uh less or more than a public health building.

It's kinda it's kind of apples and oranges in a way.

Um let me answer that question this way, if you'll latitude.

I'm gonna be bold.

I think that the halfway house fits more into this neighborhood than the social services center does, because if I owned an adjacent business, I would be more concerned about the coming and going of anybody that was out there rather than the people that were actually living on that property, you know, under the strict rules that they have to live under.

And that's the strict rules they have as long as they own the house.

The conditional use halfway house stays with that house if something was to happen and the and the ownership changes hands down the road.

Correct, yes, sir.

That's correct.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Any other we've talked through it a lot.

Any other on the uh conditional use, same same as everything else.

If if it they do decide to move out, it is permit, they still have to come in front of the council.

No.

Well for permission.

Okay.

Uh a conditional use transfers with uh ownership transfer.

But remember about conditional uses.

If there are any problems that are created, and we get neighbor complaints that this has happened or that's happening, which violates the conditions, that could be brought back to the planning commission and brought back to the city council, and that conditional use can be revoked based on that.

That's what conditional use is all about.

As long as you abide by the rules, you can operate.

But if you stop abide by the rules, we can revoke that permit.

So one more real quick.

So or if if it changes hands and it in the house is not inhabited or used for a year, then that conditional use goes away as well, right?

No, no, it's it runs with the land.

So there's no it runs with the land uh indefinitely.

That's correct.

Okay.

So I I got one more question.

Uh Peter, would this I don't know, with all the questions and the designations and language, would it be a good idea to table this or in your opinion?

Yeah, uh, I think table will be fine.

I'd like to uh I wouldn't mind looking at some definitions of custodial confinement, looking at some other cities, seeing how they relate to this to make sure that just to make sure it's all being done properly, or maybe there could be another area to plug it into, but uh is a Jerry okay with a week?

Yeah, Mr.

Mr.

Hold on to your motion to table.

Do we have any other discussion before we consider a motion to table?

Any other discussion?

I don't think I need to tell you what is.

Would I sorry?

Uh uh I think Mr.

Marshall said so.

Mr.

Marshall, what was that comment?

Let's put it to the vote and can keep on moving.

Okay.

Well, Councilman may want to make a motion to table, and just as you did, I I'll consider that.

Uh any other comments?

Mr.

Creel.

Uh just a motion table for a week while legal does some uh research uh neighboring cities and language.

Motion to table by Mr.

Creel for a week to allow legal to kind of take a look at it and possibly make some recommendations.

Is there a second?

Is there a second on Mr.

Creel's motion?

I'll say I'll second it.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Gray.

Any discussion?

Call for the question.

All in favor of tabling it for one week.

One, two, three, four, five.

Okay.

All opposed.

No, no, no, no.

Um it was unanimous, wasn't it?

It was unanimous.

It was unanimous to okay.

It was unanimous.

Thank you.

We'll move on to the next item.

All right.

Resolution granting two conditional use approvals to authorize two single family residences.

A short-term rental is located at 310 Collier Street.

Chair and a motion on this item pertaining to Ward 1.

I'll make a motion.

Move by Mr.

Gray.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Second by Mr.

Creel.

Mr.

Gray, you have the floor.

Thank you.

Sorry.

This um short-term rentals or or the housing.

As well, we're going for correct.

To build two housing.

Yes, sir.

There's two things on here, Mr.

Gray, that uh demand conditional use, require conditional use.

Uh the property is on the NB, and in NB zoning, if you're going to do more than one unit, you have to have a conditional use approval to build more than one unit.

But then on top of that, he's wanting to use those two units for short-term rental.

So that requires an additional conditional use.

So you're voting on two conditional use approvals or denials today.

Right.

Okay.

Yeah, no, I mean neighborhood business.

Hopefully, you know, we rezoning on the on the south side of the tracks for this.

I mean, I'll prove this.

I mean, hopefully, in the future, we can move the uh CB zoning to the north side of the tracks, and this is part of it, this area to help East Biloxi grow.

That's the only way it's going to grow is if we get people like here, this guy, Mr.

Foster, willing to spend his money to build and and I and I deeply appreciate that.

I mean, that's the only way East Blocks is going to grow is our people like you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray.

Mr.

Creel.

Nothing for you.

Nothing.

Anyone else?

Anything on this issue?

All right.

Call for the question.

All in favor.

Those opposed.

Motion carries unanimous.

Uh next item is item S.

Resolution adopting the Biloxi Police Department tow manual.

All right.

Was this something that we tabled as well?

And this is table motion by this what I have for S.

Yes.

Tabled uh motion, original motion was made by Mr.

Tisdale and it was seconded by Mr.

Creel.

Mr.

Tisdale.

Right.

I think we're looking at some rates or something when we last talked, and Mr.

Gray may have something to say more.

Additionally on this, I that's why it was tabled though.

Uh me and administration has been working in the police department.

Um be back.

And his uh guys has been working on this too, and we've been staying in close contact.

This is just the manual.

This is no pricing.

Pricing still has to come in front of us.

And we're probably still probably two votes two two times and coming back in front of us.

But this here is just today as to approve the manual.

Rachel, can you come up and explain a little bit?

And Rachel has been working hard on this for many years trying to make this happen.

And we'll appreciate that.

Yes, we've got a process established.

The first was to adopt the ordinance.

We've done that.

Now we'll approve the manual.

These gives us the rules.

After this, we'll we'll put out an RFP or responses.

We'll come up with what we believe are fair rates based on those in market factors and other factors.

Then we will bring a resolution back to the council to establish the rates.

Those rates are established.

We'll be bringing back agreements with these two companies where they are actually signing saying that they agreed to charge these amounts and to abide by this manual.

So it will come back to y'all twice.

Right.

And these and this manual is protects the citizens of Biloxi and our guests who come here.

That is the whole reason this manual is being restructured, redesigned.

Correct.

That's all I have.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray, Mr.

Creel.

So quick question.

What the rates currently or or the rates currently, how is that how's that determined?

Straights currently.

So it's up to each individual tow company to charge whatever rate they have.

What we're gonna do after we get the RFP and look at the state rates as well.

Come up with the blended rate, and that's gonna be exhibit A to this toll manual.

Then if we have to make tweaks to that to those rates down the road, we're just changing that exhibit.

Okay, no quick question.

So this isn't a restructured of a tow manual.

This is you creating a tote manual, correct?

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other comments?

And and every every other city, every city and county has a structured rate.

We're the only one that does not.

And um everybody for putting their time and their effort and their input in here.

That's how we get things done by everybody working together.

That's all it is.

Thank you, Mr.

Gray.

Any other comments?

Is there a is there a timeline on the rates?

Like it when you put that out, do you have to are they reviewed periodically?

Is it yeah, like well when you're establishing the rates?

Like I guess what I'm saying is right now these these tow companies can charge whatever they want.

For how long can they continue to do that?

I guess I'm just looking until we establish that rate.

Three months.

Yeah, that takes a couple of months.

Okay.

That says about three months.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Before I call for the question, I want to commend Councilman Gray for recognizing that we needed to slow this down a little bit and uh not once, but multiple times have asked for us to table this so you could work uh with the administration in unity and transparency to get this uh right and this rate right and these procedures right uh for the good of Biloxi.

Thank you for that, Mr.

Gray.

Call for the question.

All in favor.

Those proposed.

Motion carries unanimous.

You know, motion on the consent.

So moved.

Thank you.

Okay, let's see.

So going down the list.

So uh E.

Rick or Christy one.

So this the uh seats at the uh at the baseball stadium.

Uh are these mandated by MLB?

Is that why we're doing this?

Is this another one of their mandates?

No, these are just destroyed over time.

We've got to replace them, and that's part of the contract that we do replace those seatings on there.

That's also gonna be supported by that additional monies that came in from the shuckers.

Okay, and then so with this, Peter, I guess you would it would this be with the new contract, the new maintenance, or does that not take effect till February?

Uh so this will be under the new parameters that you negotiated.