City may hold working session
Following community comment on the handling of the ice storm electricity outages, the Holly Springs Board of Aldermen turned inward.
Ward 1 alderman Bernita Fountain wanted to know how the city would dispose of broken limbs and Ward 4 alderman Patricia Merriweather wanted an inventory of how city performed during the ice storm and how to search for a general manager for the utility department.
Interim general manager of the Holly Springs Utility Department Donald Warren has already retired.
Holly Springs Mayor Sharon Gipson said city employees are “working diligently” to move limbs to the curbs and to keep ice storm debris separated from other wastes. She said she is looking at using a contractor to help pick up and haul off ice storm limbs.
Fountain said a press release (from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) said customers should put the debris to the curbs.
Gipson said both the city and Marshall County will pick up material set at the curbs. “I would like for us to have a work session to reflect on how this transpired, the things we did well, and how to improve upon and seek a general manager,” said Merriweather. “But when?
“We need to look at inclement weather coming in tomorrow (Wednesday Feb. 8). I know nature happens and the right-of-way and things we need to look at. I want to be half-way satisfied if something happens in this next wave of weather.”
“I totally agree,” said Fountain. “What are the specs for a general manager? What are we specifying.”
Thomas May, a person who has experience working on power line problems, suggested HSUD have an engineer and two supervisors who know the grid totally.
“Mitchell Allen would be a good one as far as the electric side,” he said. “But the business side — an electrical engineer will be a contact person, but part of it is an industrial engineer’s job who will have management experience.”
The approval of the general city bills and claims and City Utility bills and claims remained.
Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones made a motion to approve the city general bills and claims and alderman-atlarge Dexter Shipp seconded the motion. The motion carried 4-1 with Ward 3 alderman Colter Teel voting against the measure.
Jones made a motion to approve the city utility bills and claims and Fountain seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-2 with Teel and Shipp voting against the measure.
Shipp said in a short interview later in the week that part of his vote against paying the utility bills and claims was in sympathy for the customers who were out of electricity so long and partly because he didn’t have time to look over utility department claims.
Teel said he didn’t vote on either because he didn’t have an opportunity to look over the claims.
“I didn’t get the agenda or claims in time to review them,” he said.
Other business acted upon by the board of aldermen at the Feb. 7 meeting included:
• transfer of $245,906 (from the Modernization Use Tax) from the general Automated Clearing House (ACH) fund to the general operating fund.
• authorization of payment of $631,326 for the December 2022 tax settlement to the Holly Springs School District.
• approval of payment of $2,548 to the Department of Finance and Administration for the January 2023 court settlement.
• approval of a payment of $288 to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
• approval of travel expenses for Jerrica Jones, Wanda Scott, and Lakisha Street to attend the 2023 spring certified municipal clerk program in April.
• authorization of travel expenses for the mayor, board of aldermen, city clerk and city attorney to attend the 92nd annual Mississippi Municipal League Conference in June.
• approval of a privilege license to sell beer to Destin Enterprises, Inc. also known as Corner Food Market at 480 Mississippi Highway 178 East, formerly Three Brothers - a gasoline station and convenience store. Owner/operator is Jabed Hossain.
• approval of a privilege license to sell beer to Holly Jolly Food and Fuels, located at 227 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The business is a gasoline station and convenience store owned by Sapthagiri Sangem and Samyukktha Muddasank.
• approved a request for cash to the Mississippi Development Authority for $92,758 and $65,331 as reimbursement to the city for work done on an Appalachian Regional Commission project.
• approval to return a generator loaned to the Holly Springs Fire Department by the Mississippi Forestry Commission.
• authorization for travel for Rodney Crane, Shane Wommack and Michael Holmes to attend the Mississippi Fire Service Training Conference in March.