Properties that are safety hazards may be seized

In department reports at the March 17 meeting of the Holly Springs Mayor and Board of Aldermen, fire chief Rodney Crane said homeless people living in burned out structures that are deemed by the State of Mississippi to be a safety hazard can be seized by the state.

He said people are going in the burnouts in two locations and using them for a shelter.

Crane named two structures that were seized by the state, a burned out building by the Mosque on North Memphis Street and the purple-colored building behind the Smith Whaley Law Firm building.

Those buildings will be boarded up and notices put on the buildings, Crane said.

One of the properties is in arrears on property taxes and owes $3,400 and the other owes $7,000, he said.

If the state seizes the property, the city can purchase the property at 25 percent of its value. If not, the state will turn the property over to the city and allows the city to take possession of it, Crane said.

Crane said notices will be placed on both buildings and they will be boarded up.

Another property of concern, Crane said, is the old Sims School where the roof has collapsed. It recently was reported that children were playing in the building.

“Any city property not cleaned up will be boarded up or secured and the city will have to take action,” Crane said. “This has been going on too long. We have to take action before something happens.”

Several other properties are also of concern because the property is not safe, but haven’t sold.

A property on South Randolph just past the traffic light after crossing Van Dorn Avenue is a concern. A burned out house on South Chesterman Street is also in question.

“We are trying to contact landowners first, but if the state seizes them, we are obligated to board it up until the city seizes it,” Crane said.

Cleared lots may be converted into green space.

Crane said the city started seriously pursuing the problem after the ice storm.

The city will make contact with the owner, if it can, and give the owner notice and an opportunity to clean it up, first, and make it presentable, he said.

Department reports

The Holly Springs Utility Department report was provided by professional consultant Michael Watson.

The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association is working with HSUD to post a nationwide ad for a general manager for HSUD, he said.

Complaints received by the HSUD for the last couple of months center around billing, meter reading, power outages and poor voltage quality, he said.

“If we had an automated (meter reading) system in place, it would be a critical tool in today’s utility operations,” Watson said.

In terms of revenue, the main thing working is past due collections, he said.

HSUD’s accounts payable is $5.4 million and the majority is storm related, Watson said.

HSUD owes the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) $17.5 million and is nine months behind in payments.

HSUD made a payment to TVA in March of $1,559, 911, Watson said.

Watson said crews are doing a better job of communicating by radio so linemen know when lines have been cleared out, a safety measure.

HSUD continues to develop and Outage Management system which Watson said he hopes will go live in four to six weeks.

“We need to make sure it gives accurate information,” he said. Outages Sunday afternoon (March 16) were caused by full-force storms and some customers were out over 24 hours, mostly due to broken poles.

“We lost a lot of poles this weekend,” said Ward 3 Alderman Jim Moore.

Watson said some outages were related to limbs and it is not possible to say anything about the condition of the poles.

The city has lost it’s Facebook page again, so it is difficult to communicate directly with the public.

Watson said AT&T has a phone system down and are unable to restore it so HSUD installed a temporary phone line routed to the CRC call center as an alternate means of reporting outages. The Public Service Commission and TVA have been notified about the alternate number, he said.

The temporary alternate number to report outages is 662-551-0565.

The Police Department report was provided by Chief Grant Glover.

He said there are two critical needs in the city since the mauling of dogs and a recent shooting at CJ’s Lounge Sunday, March 15.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to come forward, he said.

There is a big problem with canines and two dogs recently mauled another dog, he said.

“There is a problem with running dogs in the city,” he said.

A third problem is four-wheelers and ATVs that are not tagged that are running the streets.

He said normally the city is not towing them and officers cannot chase those vehicles due to the danger of accidents.

“Four-wheelers, golf carts, side-by-sides have to be registered,” Glover said.

He asked the ordinance be run in the paper.

HSPD has a generator and a new sign that will be installed. Glover said the sign runs about $500 and he still has seed money in an account at Bank of Holly Springs to pay for the sign and for striping the parking lot. The money is from drug seizures, he said.

Patricia Merriweather, Ward 4 alderman asked if the city has a leash law if dogs are running free in the streets.

Moore said today many people have invisible fences.

“I don’t know if that plays in,” he said.

Glover said the city does not have an animal catcher.

“It’s very important given the incident that just happened,” Merriweather said, referring to the mauling of a resident.

City attorney John Keith Perry Jr., read the ordinance aloud.

“Did the dog get locked up that night?” asked Sandra Hodges, Ward 1 alderman.

Glover said the dogs are secure in a kennel so the public is not at risk right now.

“Do we know whose dogs?” Merriweather asked.

Continuing with his police report, Glover said officers have written about 260 tickets for speeding and other offenses since the last Municipal Court date in February.

Court dates are scheduled on Thursdays, he said.

“So, if anyone sees a strange dog, should they call PD?” Merriweather asked.

“Yes, and the public has been calling. I think the two dogs that mauled that dog on Hamilton – these two dogs were wagging their tails and moved back in a wooded area. We have not caught them.”

“We need to let the public know these steps we are taking,”Merriweather said. “Any tips for the public.”

“Don’t run (from dogs),” Glover said.

Parks and Recreation director Darrel Thomas said he is also getting complaints about ATVs in the parks and people jacking up their cars and working on them in the park.

Moore asked if the lights have been restored in Spring Hollow Park.

Watson said he does not think the problem is individual lights but service to the park.

“Does the park need to be closed after dark?” Moore asked.

Moore said signs at the parks will be upgraded.

Hodges asked if the SkyCops are working in all three parks.

“Do they work?” asked Moore.

Thomas said the goal is to kick off the junior league this week. About 50 children have signed up.

And equipment is due at Coopwood April 10, but playground equipment at Henley Park is still waiting.

The Memphis Grizzlies have provided 110 free tickets for Holly Springs to watch a game, Hodges said, but the date has not been set.

Street, Buildings and Grounds superintendent Anthony Jones said 38 potholes were repaired. Work will begin on West Street to put down rip rap on the west side of the washout north of Cuman’s. He said 272 trash bags full of leaves have been picked up on the right-of-way.

Monthly receivables and disbursements were reported by City Clerk Jerrica Jones.

The city received ad valorem taxes of $815,712, tourism taxes of $28,565, $65,626 in Homestead and $116,052 in sales taxes.

Monthly disbursements were $14,282 paid to the Tourism Bureau and $1,796,287 to the Holly Springs School District in ad valorem collect.