Audit reports good

The City of Holly Springs tied the bow and knot on the end of 2019 with some good audit reports.

The Holly Springs Tourism and Recreation Bureau reported a clean bill of health. Executive director Tyrisha Battle handed in the audit report, saying there were no problems.

In a brief report, Battle said the audit was done in July 2019, and there are no changes.

The fiscal year for municipalities ends June 30.

"Everything is mostly in order for the yearly audit," she said.

Holly Springs Utility Department came out with a clean audit as well. General manager Bill Stone and assistant manager Steve Reed reported no findings in the audit report for the electric department.

They gave a brief summary of the year end for each utility fund and total.

The electric department was in the black to the tune of $600,000, Reed said. Outlays outstripped revenues in the Water and Sewer Department. Gas was in the black by about $183,000, Reed said. Water, sewer and gas audits have not been completed.

Reed said this year's audit was not much different than the report for last year. The financials were about the same.

There were no findings or any audit issues.

"That means we had a completely clean audit," he said.

Alderman-At-Large Tim Liddy praised HSUD, saying in his first year on the job as alderman the utility had two or three pages of findings.

Stone said the audit covers the electric department. Water, gas and sewer will be audited in January.

"No findings is excellent," said Mayor Kelvin Buck. "And the timeliness of the audits will keep the city from being delayed. Good housekeeping and stewardship."

Stone said the utility's goal is to expect more clean audits going forward.

Buck reported the Mississippi Development Authority audit, that covers federal grants that flow through MDA to the city, found no issues to report.

"It is so important to have this letter from the Governor's Office saying all funds were used appropriately," Buck said. "We thank them for that."

City clerk Belinda Sims Hollowell assisted MDA with providing documents for the audit, the mayor said.

The board of aldermen and mayor discussed right-of-way clearing bids opened by the Electric Department and took the bids under advisement.

Gray's Power Supply bid $3,367,200 and ABC Professional Tree Services bid $4,772,230. Stone said the bid was for a three- to up to a fiveyear contract; that is, the period it takes to clear the right-of-way.

Robert Badie requested permission to adopt Cuba Street.

City clerk's report Hollowell sought approval for a document management system through Data Systems Management at a fee of $125 per month. The system will be used primarily by the Human Resources Department to keep up with employee certification records and to condense files and paperwork, Hollowell said.

She recommended the city look at using the management system for one year and then discontinue if it is not deemed useful. The system stores documents on the Cloud.

HSUD report Aldermen approved the promotion of Johnathon Bownes to certified water operator with commensurate pay increase. The board also approved hiring Kalif Alford as apprentice lineman in the Electric Department.

Public Works

Director Will Denton recommended payments for several claims for recent work.

The board authorized payment of $79,399 to Phillips Construction for work done on the Safe Routes To School sidewalk project. The city will get reimbursed from the SRTS grant to the tune of $63,519. The board authorized payment of $4,800 to Jon Woods Construction for drainage improvements on Rolfing Road to replace the existing drainage structure in front of Contract Fabricators Inc.

Double T Construction's claim for $12,094 for work done on the tennis court parking lot and Gholson Avenue failure area beside the cleaners was authorized by the board.

A request for approval to get quotes for striping work on Gholson Avenue, Randolph Street and Chulahoma Avenue was discussed. Denton recommended a thermoplastic traffic stripe, a double yellow and thermoplastic legend white for nine stop bars.

The board took the matter under advisement.

Denton opened city services bids and made recommendations to the board.

The board approved hiring Kirt Dortch as full-time laborer in the street department.

The board also approved dues for all 42 fire department personnel to the Mississippi Firefighters Association at $20 each.