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Mayor Dale Berry called the Tuesday night meeting to order and led in the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance. The Mayor asked for public comments which there were none.
In the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Berry reported that 21 areas in the city are cut every 8 days. Mayor Berry has been elected Vice President of the Central Municipal Mayor’s Association and will begin his term in January. Berry reported that the city should began receiving internet sales tax January and July of 2020.
An employee handbook workshop will be held October 29, 2019.
The city will recognize Halloween Trick or Treating on Thursday, October 31, 2019.
The minutes and claims docket were approved.
A short discussion was held on the discrepancy of the amount of water bills between city residents and apartment & trailer bills. The board will continue to look into the problem and will discuss at the November 5, 2019 meeting.
Mayor Berry announced that the money received from the state legislature for use in waste management ($250,000) should be received in November. Senator Chris Caughman was instrumental in our city receiving this money.
The city plans to purchase a new garbage truck through a reverse auction. The garbage truck bids are due on November 4th. City Works Department Head Nevis Rankin will study the bids and make a suggestion to the board as to which is the best bid. Several stipulations were included in the original bid notification.
The board voted to move forward with vinyl flooring for the Senior Citizens Building (old YMCA). The approximate cost of the flooring is $11,800. Work continues on the outside of the building. Opening date is not known at this time.
The downtown Christmas decorations were discussed. Due to the height of the light poles on Main Street, lights cannot be strung across the street. Matthew Hickman suggested outlining the downtown buildings with lights. The buildings did have lights at one time but due to concern of the conditions of several of the building roofs and liability issues, the lights were removed. Alderman Hickman will continue to address the downtown building outline lighting. The light poles at the 5 way stop are tall enough for string lights. The board is considering lighting the 5 way stop area.
Mayor Berry mentioned a problem of panhandling in the city of Magee. A situation developed this month which was on private property. The persons were given permission by the land owner to sell on their property. Following some problems, the Magee Police removed the panhandlers. There are no city ordinances at this time dealing with panhandling. The City will continue to rely on the Police Department to handle the situation.
There were no zoning matters or park and recreation.
Mayor Berry reminded everyone that the Simpson County Economic Foundation is hosting a Business After Hours at the City airport on Tuesday, October 22nd beginning at 6:30. The public is invited to attend the event which will provide an update about the airport and future plans.
There were no building inspector matters.
Fire Marshal Charlie Valadie reported that the new fire truck is ready for inspection at the plant. Permission was given for Philip Magee and Shane Steele to fly to the plant where the fire truck was made for inspection. The cost for the trip is $1,296 or $650 per person. The company is providing food and lodging. The trip is scheduled for October 28-30th. The board approved the expenditures for the trip.
Charlie announced that the Burn Ban had been lifted.
Police Chief Randy Crawford announced that Patrol officer Joey Shows had submitted his resignation effective October 7, 2019.
Permission was requested and approved to send policemen Matt Sullivan to a Instructor Development course at Camp Shelby at a cost of $395.
Chief Crawford introduced Vernon Dampier (33) to the board for part time employment. Although Dampier is full time certified, he will be working part time with the Magee PD. Vernon has been in law enforcement since 2013. The board approved Mr. Dampier to work part time with the Magee Police Department.
Bobby Applewhite, of the city works department, appeared before the board to discuss a problem with the company providing access to reading waste water levels. Magee has 5 wells. Three of the wells are on land phone lines for monitoring. Two of the phone bills are $511 per month. The third line which is the line where there is conversation with the company is $1,399 per month. Bobby has found a new company that for an initial fee of $49,459 for the first year and $1680 per year there after will serve our needs. The new system will allow for monitoring from cell phone. The board approved pursuing the change to the new company.
With no future business the meeting was adjourned.
