Board rehashes some concerns

The Holly Springs mayor and board of aldermen discussed the hope of starting off the new year with a clean slate, a hope expressed by alderman Patricia Merriweather during the board report/discussion portion of the agenda at the December 7 meeting.

With a short agenda there was nothing much new to be discussed so aldermen rehashed their unresolved concerns in the city.

Ward 1 alderman Bernita Fountain kicked off the discussion by asking police chief Grant Glover if the city has a juvenile officer.

Glover said there are five officers in training who will go to the police academy the first week in January 2022. One of them, Janette May, may be assigned as a juvenile officer, he said. Other recruits are Terell Colister, Charles Wilson, Markavion Anderson and Jariah Leasure.

New recruits who are not certified don’t answer calls but may be sent to do traffic control and jobs like that until they are certified.

Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones had several concerns. First he wanted to know when work on the new road project at Hill Crest Cemetery will resume, saying he has received numerous calls voicing concern.

Mayor Sharon Gipson said she’s been looking at alternatives until she gets a street supervisor.

“The street department put extra soil and you can access it but depending on how close the vehicle is to the ground,” she said. “I hope to move forward on it.”

Jones asked if the mayor knows how the money the city has received from the American Rescue Plan will be used. So far the city has received around $900,000.

Gipson said she will be looking at the first of the new year for ways to use the money.

“I see ambulance service in the county,” Jones said. “What can we do as a city to make sure of the safety of the city?” Jones asked. “I think paramedic training for our firemen would be helpful.”

He recommended following up on a suggestion District 1 supervisor Charles Terry had to train paramedics as the county has changed ambulance service provider to Lifeguard.

Ward 3 alderman Colter Teel said he is receiving lots of calls from people saying the Holly Springs Utility Department is not responding to calls.

One constituent wanted correction of a rotting utility pole that was leaning in the yard.

“I called four times yesterday and no one picked up,” Teel said. “I need to be able to give these people a time frame. I feel like we are not completing anything at this point.”

Gipson said the employees are doing a lot of cleanup and she has received a call from the public service commissioner saying one customer complained about waiting for service over a year.

“If you don’t tell us, we won’t know,” the mayor said. “If there is an emergency, send that to us.”

“Can we get a better system for calling them back?” Teel asked. “They are not getting return calls or there is no answer (when they call).”

“We’re looking to see how that’s working,” Gipson said, explaining that there is a computerized system to take calls. “We are short-handed. Let us know if there are others out there with complaints.”

“Once that order is received, there has to be someone diligent to allow people to see (it is done),” Teel said. “We are short-handed. The whole world is short-handed now.”

“If it is an emergency, it’s a whole different story,” Gipson said. “We are working to get more people. Our team can only do so much with the staff we have. We want to make sure every call is respected.”

Teel asked about leaves scattered all over town.

Gipson said the leaf truck starts in Ward 1 then rotates through the wards to give equal service to everything. Leaves are causing a drainage problem on Van Dorn by clogging up drains, she said.

“What do citizens need to do with leaves in their yard?” Teel asked.

“Pile them but avoid drainage ditches,” Gipson said. “If they can bag them that’s fine. That’s great. But if they are not able or on fixed income, we do pick up leaves in the common areas.”

“Lot of people want to know if we are bagging or raking,” Teel said. “It is up to the discretion of the homeowner?”

“Both (raking and bagging),” the mayor said.

“Where are we on the CD (certificate of deposit) issue?” Teel asked.

“We’re still looking at it,” Gipson said. “We don’t have an accountant at this time. I will check at the bank.”

Teel asked about renewing or bidding out health insurance, which is up for renewal in February 2022.

“They sent a notice almost doubling their rate,” Gipson said. “We are waiting so we can notify all interested companies. We’re pulling things together so we can make sure we are fair – the ones with the least cost and the best services. It is good to look at to see if we can find someone to give the best to our employees – to make sure it is a fair and open process.”

“Where are we on Grays Power Supply?” Teel asked.

He said he wants the company

paid “because we’re holding a lot of money back.”

“We’re looking at that,” Gipson said. “We understand Mr. Gray is a small businessman but large to some. We would like to get that done as well. Our employees have been working on our right-of-way since Grays has stopped. I will pass this on through the city attorney.”

Board attorney John Perry said he told Gray he expects “it will work out to some form of resolution, as well.”

Ward 4’s Merriweather began her questioning and comments by saying she wants an outside accountant to audit the utility and the city.

Gipson said the city “is already on it.”

“That $200,000 to the old Water and Light (restoration grant). Have they sent us that grant money yet?” Merriweather asked.

The grant is a cost-reimbursement grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“It should be coming up to the next phase,” Merriweather said. “Are they working now?” Gipson said the city had done what it is authorized to do.

“I would like to see these contracts and time limits,” Merriweather said. “Same thing, such as the pavilion. We’re getting ready to go into 2022. I want to get some things finalized.”

“We are looking for records and going through old vaults and looking for contracts,” Gipson said. “The pavilion was not contracted. That delay is on me.

“We’re hoping to close everything out so we can move on into the new year without having to look at the pavilion and cemetery. We will bring other matters up at the next meeting to try to look forward to a clean slate so we can work on economic development — so we can move forward.”

Merriweather said she would like for all department heads to attend the board meetings and report so the board can hear updates and have an opportunity to ask the directors questions.

“I feel we can — Warren (HSUD), grounds, drainage. I would like to have a day-to-day knowledge in what is going on in the departments. HR, Carter I mean, I haven’t seen her since July or August. So we can speak intelligently.”

Jones said he favors a request but not a requirement that department directors attend board meetings.

“We need to hear from them. We need to know what’s going on,” Merriweather said.

“Many of our directors do attend on a regular basis,” Gipson said. “Ms. Carter, she has been seen regularly but has taken off some.”

Merriweather asked that the board see the city claims and reconciliation of the city accounts.

“I’ll tell you, on the utility side, that’s going to take a while,” Gipson said. “Right now we’re finding so many things. The people doing financial software have been working to reconcile city accounts for years. We are having to do this manually because things have not been reconciled for several years. I’m also talking to someone who worked with us before to come back and assist us.”

“But monthly reconciliations, are they in order?” Merriweather pressed. “Since July 1, can we have access to those?”

Merriweather asked whether the minutes of the board meetings are being posted. Constituents are asking to see them posted, she said.

City clerk Jerrica Jones said the last minutes made ready were from the September 21 board meeting. She has forwarded the October minutes to attorney Perry, she said.

“My question is, minutes should be approved in 30 days. We’re held accountable to what is in those minutes,” Merriweather said.

She said getting a back log of minutes up for approval at one time does not give her time to read through them all in such a short time.

Fountain asked what the standing is on the city’s annexation plan.

“Are we going to put it back on the agenda?” she asked. “When are we going to have a permanent general manager at HSUD?”

Gipson said she is looking at applications and the annexation will be taken up at the next meeting.

Merriweather requested Perry give an opinion on “where we are with our hiring practices as passed by the board and comparison to how it is actually being done.

“There are motions passed to make sure our motions are being acted upon,” she said.

Gipson said on hiring practices, Perry “will gladly summarize for you.” “I don’t want the public to think you have not been presented with qualified candidates,” she said.

Gipson defended her recommendation of an accountant, Annie Mason, who she presented for hire at HSUD and her qualifications.

“We know the university does not give away degrees,” Gipson said. “We know she is qualified. Most of the employees I recommend to you (are qualified). I don’t know them personally. I want to make sure the public understands I am exercising my authority under the law.”

“Just to explain to citizens, it is not that we have a problem with one particular candidate or not,” Merriweather said. “Our concern as a board of aldermen is that the board of aldermen hires the person for that position, so with that in mind, we want to be able to hire who we feel is the best candidate. It’s the process. We’re not trying to take anything away from you — supervisory power. We are held accountable. We want to make sure we do our due diligence.”