A Recess Meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the
City of Ocean Springs was called to order by Mayor
Ainsworth at
Alderman Cody gave the Invocation.
Mayor Ainsworth led the Pledge of Allegiance.
City Clerk:
a)
Approve minutes of Recess Meeting of
b)
Approve minutes of Special Call Meeting of
c)
Approve minutes of Regular Meeting of
d) Pay Docket of Claims and spread docket summary upon minutes:
(Docket Summary)
City Engineer:
e) Approve Pay Request No. 2 from SCI, Inc. ($41,609.02) regarding Hanley Rd. Intersection Improvements Project No. 98-064.34:
(SCI Invoice)
Public Works:
f)
Authorize Mayor, Public Works Director and City
Attorney to travel to
(Travel Memo)
g) Pay invoice from Twin L Construction, Inc. ($1,857.37 – retainage) regarding invoice no. 03-245 (street and sidewalk repairs):
(Twin L Invoice)
Miscellaneous:
h)
Pay D. Neil Harris for services performed as Judge Pro
Tem on
(Harris Invoice)
Item d was removed from the Consent Agenda for further consideration.
Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by McDonnell, to approve the Consent Agenda, excluding item d.
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
At this time discussion was held regarding item d of the Consent Agenda. Alderman Lloyd asked that the claim from Joseph A. Lusteck and Associates in the amount of $9,728.50 be held over until the next meeting so the Board could review it.
Motion by Lloyd, seconded by Jalanivich, to approve the docket of claims, with the exception of the claim from Joseph A. Lusteck and Associates in the amount of $9,728.50.
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
(FYE 2003 Budget Amendments)
Motion by Gill, seconded by Carvin, to adopt the budget amendments for FYE 2003 as presented by the Deputy City Clerk.
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
(FYE 2004 Budget)
Motion by Dalgo, seconded by Jalanivich, to adopt the budget for FYE 2004 as presented by the Deputy City Clerk.
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
Alderman Gill thanked the Deputy City Clerk for the many hours and hard work she had put in on the budgets.
The Public Works Director requested the use of the city
credit card to purchase airline tickets for the
Motion by Dalgo, seconded by McDonnell, to
allow the use of the city credit card to pay for airline tickets to
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
The Public Works Director reported that Mallette Brothers
was in the process of doing asphalt work on Shearwater bridge
and expected the bridge to be open by next week. He added that the guardrails would be put up
after paving was complete. He also told
the Board that the
Alderman Jalanivich suggested someone contact
The Public Works Director reported that he had met with EPA
representatives from
The Public Works Director was asked to review the ditch that runs north and south and drains all of Parktown East. Alderman Gill said that development had caused the ditch to silt in, causing water to backup into Parktown East, and noted that wetlands were involved. Alderman Jalanivich suggested hiring Joe Gill, LLC to assist the Public Works Director in obtaining the necessary permits from the DMR to clean the ditch and to try to obtain a continuous permit to keep the ditch clean.
Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Cody, to hire Joe Gill, LLC to work with the Public Works Director to obtain any and all necessary permits to clean the Parktown ditch and to try to obtain a continuous permit to keep the ditch clean.
VOTING AYE Aldermen Jalanivich, Lloyd, McDonnell, Cody, Carvin and Dalgo
VOTING NAY NONE
VOTING ABSTAINED Alderman Gill
Alderman Cody asked why the area on
Motion by Dalgo, seconded by Cody, that the City Attorney
and Public Works Director review the job on
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
Supervisor John McKay was in the audience and was asked by Alderman Dalgo if Jackson Co. would be contributing to the Government St. Widening Project II. Mr. McKay advised that no money had been allocated for special projects for any of the cities at present.
Alderman Jalanivich wanted to move the monitor for
Beth Jones with the Ocean Springs Community Alliance for Educational Excellence addressed the Board concerning the proposed realignment of the elementary school grade levels. She submitted the following documents and gave a brief summary of why she was opposed to the realignment.
(Documents)
She stated that the School Board had planned to make a
decision on the issue
Karen Whitley of 3708 Government St. told the Board that the issue of overcrowding existed 11 years ago and that the idea of realignment had been presented at that time and its merits had been reviewed. She said as a result of input they were able to develop a short term and long term plan to address the issue and that a bond issue was overwhelmingly passed to build the new middle school. She felt all information should be on the table before a decision was made and wanted to remind all that there was a highly successful process of dealing with the issues 11 years ago.
Ken Flottman of 1108 Magnolia Bayou Blvd. presented the following letter to the Board.
(Flottman Letter)
Mr. Flottman told the Board that he had children in first and second grade who would be in separate schools next year if realignment were to happen. He added that one of his children would attend 5 different schools within the next 6 years and other one would attend 6 schools within the next 7 years. He complained about the lack of information given to parents on the issue and said that even the PTO was not aware of the plans for grade school realignment this past summer.
Jill Taylor of 1057 Conley Circle said she was a mother of 3 and had moved to Ocean Springs due to the excellent reputation of the Ocean Spring School District. She told the Board that there was research that shows a correlation between the number of transitions within a school district and the high school dropout rates. She said the research also suggested that the gap widens between academic performance of the high performing students and the at risk children with every transition. She added that there was also an indication that parental involvement would suffer under the proposal as well and did not feel the proposal for grade realignment was in the best interest of the children.
Dr. Jeff Horace of 900 Magnolia Bayou Blvd., a pediatrician, felt that research on the issue was inadequate and biased. He compared the amount of sleep required by children ages 5-16 year with the time they would spent on the school bus and in school. He was concerned it would be difficult for children to get their required sleep and noted that a lack of proper sleep causes children to show signs of aggression, delinquency, school problems, daytime fatigue, impulsivity and inability to concentrate, which he said often leads to a misdiagnosis of Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder. He said that the above detrimental psycho-educational effects were more likely to be seen when the busing requirements are extended due to realignment.
Alderman Dalgo said he wanted to clear up some misinformation the parents had been given. He said he had attended the May 27, 2003, budget work session with the School District and grade realignment was not discussed. He said the Board was led to believe that an elementary school would be built out to the east due to new growth in that area. He did not understand why $4.2 million could be spent to expand existing schools but could not be spent to build a new elementary school. The Police Chief said he had some major concerns with the additional traffic congestion and the need for additional manpower to address those concerns. He felt public safety should be notified of the plans in order for them to be able to accommodate.
Alderman Dalgo read the following statement for the record. “When a person is elected or appointed to a governing position they have to be willing to allow point-counterpoint style of debate and discussion when making decisions that affect peoples’ lives. It has to be true dialogue where opposition to an issue is not only acknowledged, but also where the decisions made by those in authority are justifiably explained. Not allowing this type of process inevitably leads to mistrust and suspicion.” He complained that although people were allowed to list questions to be addressed at a town hall meeting the School Board held in August, people were not allowed to ask questions that arose during the presentation or about the presentation itself. He added that another meeting was held on September 9th and people were told they could comment, but would not receive a response from the School Board. He said he knew the city would not have a vote in the decision of realignment, but felt the matter needed to be discussed and debated in an open and uninhibited manner. He said that he supported the parents in their efforts and was humbled by their courage, conviction, grace and dignity.
Alderman Jalanivich went on record to say the purpose of the “No Child Left Behind” Act was to ensure that the children of lower knowledge were taught to cope in society. He felt the decision the School Board was making would actually leave the lower level children behind and did not support the realignment at this time. He felt he did not have enough information on the issue and believed it would be detrimental to the city and the schools.
Alderman Gill suggested a panel be formed to include parents and aldermen who would address the school board in a public meeting with all of their concerns and ask them to open up about their plan of action for realignment. He felt it would answer a lot of questions and possibly change the minds of the school board members concerning their plans.
Alderman McDonnell said he had jotted down some questions that had arisen from listening to the parents and asked them to provide the Board with any questions they had. He said the Board would address the questions at the work session scheduled with the school board the following night, as he felt the parents deserved the right to be heard. Parents were asked to submit their questions to the Mayor’s office.
Alderman Lloyd thanked the parents for being concerned, for taking the time and effort and doing a great job of research. He stated that a previous school superintendent, N.E. Taconi, had introduced the idea of a neighborhood school system about 50 years ago, and although there was a lot of debate, the plan was implemented back then and had been good for the school system. He said it had produced the desired results the community wanted. He expressed his concern and questioned why the School Board wanted to change the system that had proven to be so effective and the motive behind the reason for the change.
The Mayor and Board thanked the parents for attending the meeting and voicing their concerns.
(Bolton letter requesting waiver of impact fees for I’berville Landing development)
Walter Bolton addressed the Board requesting a waiver of impact fees for the I’berville Landing development. He said tying into the city’s drainage and carrying water to the bayou without eroding other property in the neighborhood was costing well over $9,000.00. He told the Board that public works was going to do some re-piping under the street where the pipe is too small and broken, and tie it into his system. He said that in tying it in, he was having to put two catch basins and a mixing box on I’berville and take water off of Church St. down to the bayou. He said that by making these improvements, he was relieving two existing drainage problems in the area. He said that he was putting in a lift station that would eventually be turned over to the city, and therefore had to be built to the city’s specs, costing him more money.
The City Planner submitted the follow letter explaining that there were provisions for waiver of impact fees, however, Mr. Bolton had not submitted the required application.
(Planner Letter)
The matter was held over until the next meeting so that Mr. Bolton could submit the required application. The Public Works Director and City Engineer were to get involved to determine what would be fair to both Mr. Bolton and the city.
A member of the audience wanted the Board to know that there were also several parents present from Oak Park who were concerned about realignment.
Another member of the audience said that although she has no children, she works with the Boys & Girls Club, which consisted mainly of children from Oak Park, Magnolia and Pecan Park. She said those were the children that were not spoken for and a lot of the parents were not aware of the proposed realignment.
Mayor Ainsworth reminded the Board of the 6:30 p.m. work session with the School Board on September 30, 2003.
At this time Mayor Ainsworth recognized Mark Toups for his assistance with the FYE 2003 amended budget and FYE 2004 budget. The Deputy City Clerk told the Board that his help was invaluable to her.
Motion by Gill, seconded by Cody, to adjourn.
VOTING AYE ALL
VOTING NAY NONE
______________________________ _____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
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Date Date