ARPA funds used for city payroll
The City of Holly Springs Board of Aldermen approved the first drawdown on a $500,000 allocation to meet payroll at the Dec. 19 meeting of the mayor and board.
Aldermen approved a transfer of $135,089 from the $500,000 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to the general operating fund.
Ward 3 alderman Colter Teel asked if the city is going to continue to tap into the ARPA allocation regardless “or if we have to?” City Clerk Jerrica Jones answered that it would be used on an as-needed basis.
Other payments approved on the consent agenda included: • transfer of $147,383 into the general operating fund from the November sales tax receipt.
• approval of payment of $41,908 to the Holly Springs School District for the November ad valorem tax settlement.
• approval of transfer of $91,201 into the general operating fund for the TVA fee-in-lieu of tax payment.
• transfer of $2,659 and $32,931 to the public money market fund for the November Tourism tax settlement. Payment of half of these monies was approved to go to the Holly Springs Tourism Bureau.
• approval of travel of Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones to travel to Clarksdale to participate in the 2024 Mississippi Rural Water Board member training in March.
On the agenda was discussion of an ordinance establishing accountability for pets determined to be vicious. The matter was brushed aside due to an already busy agenda and because aldermen had not studied the ordinance provisions.
Mayor Sharon Gipson said municipal court had recommended the ordinance which would establish fines and fees when vicious pets harm a person or a property.
Travel was approved for fire chief Rodney Crane to attend the Mississippi Fire Chiefs Conference in January in Ridgeland.
The board approved travel for Lt. Shane McMillen to attend the Mississippi State Fire Academy for Fire Officer I and II training in January.
Michael Holmes was approved to travel to the State Fire Academy for Hazardous Material Technician II training in January.
Leron Weeks was approved for travel to the state Fire Academy for Fire Ground Leadership training in January.
Police Chief Darryl Bowens was approved for travel to the New Police Chiefs Orientation in January held in Ridgeland.
The board discussed repair of Well #1 for a fee of $5,500. Matalnic Systems Inc. provided the quote. Water supervisor Eddie Jefferson said the repair will make it possible for the water department at the water tower in downtown to control the well pump using a radio frequency system that will talk to the well remotely. Underground wiring to operate the pump had gone bad.
Teel asked why the well was having to be repaired since it was fixed five years ago.
Jefferson said the problem was different than the current one.
The board approved a three-year contract with C&M Bush Hogging at the Dec. 5 meeting.
George Humphrey with the HSUD said that 90 percent of power outages are due to right-of-way vegetation. He added that the rights-of-way should be cleared at the sides and at the overhangs as is done by North East Electric Power. Once cleared, the line of sight under the power line should be clearly visible, he said.
At that meeting Ward 1 alderman Bernita Fountain expressed concern that sewer is backing up in several areas in her ward, including Rolfing Road, Church Court on Highway 178, on Eddie Lee Smith Drive bypass and West Street, and Martin Luther King Drive.