REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 6, 2004

A Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ocean Springs was called to order by Mayor Ainsworth at 6:00 p.m. on January 6, 2004, at City Hall in the City of Ocean Springs. Present were Aldermen Jalanivich, Lloyd, McDonnell, Cody, Carvin, Dalgo and Gill, City Attorney Oscar Jordan and Deputy City Clerk Diane Northrop.

Alderman Cody gave the Invocation.

Mayor Ainsworth led the Pledge of Allegiance.

At this time Mayor Ainsworth recognized Charlie Mayo for his unselfish actions during the fire at the Villa Maria on December 5, 2003, and presented him with a proclamation declaring January 6, 2004, as Charlie Mayo Day in the City of Ocean Springs.

Cindy Ladnier thanked the Fire and Police Depts. for their quick response to the fire and thanked the Mayor and Board of Aldermen for their help and concern.

At this time Dr. Dewey Lane of the Gulf Coast Symphony presented the following letter requesting $5,000.00 in community promotion funds for their annual Memorial Day weekend concert which is held free to the public.

The Board agreed to take the request under advisement.

Consent Agenda

City Clerk:

a) Approve Minutes of Recess Meeting of December 16, 2003

b) Pay Docket of Claims and spread docket summary upon the Minutes:

c) Accept Action Report

Police Dept.:

d) Accept resignation of Dispatcher Caren Depreo, effective December 27, 2003, and authorize Police Chief to begin process to fill vacancy:

Fire Dept.:

e) Accept Fire Report for November 2003

f) Allow Fire Chief to begin purchasing equipment authorized under Domestic Preparedness Equipment Grant #3SSG-2004 ($34,241.00) and Equipment Grant #3SUP-69 ($14,400.00), and authorize Deputy City Clerk to advertise for bids if necessary:

Public Works:

g) Accept Selection Committee’s recommendation to award proposal for Engineering Services (City Engineer) to Compton Engineering, P.A. and authorize Mayor to execute contract:

Community Development & Planning:

h) Pay invoice from Fletcher Construction Co., Inc. ($42,945.32) for work associated with Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center:

i) Accept recommendation regarding capacity assessment (water/sewer) for developments along Ocean Springs Rd. and Groveland Rd. at $953.50 per lot for Waterford Village, The Vineyard, Oak Manor and Laurelwood:

j) Approve contract with Neel-Schaffer, Inc. for redistricting of ward lines in Ocean Springs at cost not to exceed $17,500.00 and authorize Mayor to sign contract:

Risk Manager/HR Director:

k) Approve insurance invoices from Mississippi Municipal Liability Plan ($193,189.00), Mississippi Municipal Workers Comp ($45,785.00) and Scott Insurance ($16,074.31) and release payment prior to January 31, 2004:

Miscellaneous:

l) Pay invoice from Solutions, Inc. ($780.00) regarding Recreational Complex:

m) Pay invoice from Consultant John V. Quarstein ($1,057.23) for travel expenses incurred from December 13-17, 2003 regarding Fort Maurepas:

n) Authorize Board of Aldermen and any department head to attend National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, FL on April 4-9, 2004, prepay $300.00 registration fee and pay all other reasonable and actual expenses:

Items i, j and m were removed from the Consent Agenda for further consideration.

Motion by Carvin, seconded by McDonnell, to approve the Consent Agenda, excluding items i, j and m.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Department Reports

City Clerk

Motion by McDonnell, seconded by Cody, to adopt the budget amendment for the Shearwater Bridge Fund as recommended by the Deputy City Clerk and withhold all payments to the contractor and engineer until all issues with the Shearwater Bridge Replacement Project have been resolved.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Police Dept.

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Dalgo, to accept the recommendation to hire Mark S. Dunston for the position of Standards and Training Officer, effective January 7, 2004, and place him on one year probation at the rank of Captain with an annual starting salary of $38,000.00.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Public Works

The Public Works Director reported that paving should be complete by Thursday or Friday of this week.

Motion by Gill, seconded by Jalanivich, to authorize the Mayor, City Engineer and Public Works Director be authorized to take appropriate steps in seeking the dismantling and removal of the city hall and hospital water tanks.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Alderman Gill suggested that the site for the proposed police and fire facility be bush-hogged and cleaned.

Motion by Gill, seconded by Jalanivich, to authorize the Public Works Director to obtain a cost estimate to bush-hog and clean the city property next to the Civic Center where the proposed police and fire facility would be located.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Community Development & Planning

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Carvin, to open the lot cleaning hearing regarding 602 Rhonda Lane.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

The City Planner and Deputy City Clerk reported that they had received no communication from the property owner. Neither the property owner nor a representative was present for the hearing. The City Attorney advised the Board to review the property before taking any further action.

Motion by Cody, seconded by Lloyd, to close the lot cleaning hearing regarding 602 Rhonda Lane and delay action until the next meeting.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

At this time item i of the Consent Agenda was taken up for consideration. The City Planner explained that the developments located inside the city limits would not be charged for both impact fees and assessment fees, and that the developments outside the city limits would pay assessment fees only. Alderman Jalanivich felt that the four subdivisions would not be an impact on the water system and did not feel it was right to assess them. Alderman McDonnell asked how the assessment fees were calculated. The City Engineer replied that they were based on the amount of improvements needed for the system and included future growth, however the developments were assessed for their portion only. He said that the subdivisions would not impact anyone at all until they are built out. He added that loop lines were needed from Deena Rd. to Ocean Springs/Vancleave Rd. in addition to connections to the developments. The City Planner said that a substantial amount of improvements needed to be done prior to any of the developments coming on line. He added that money has to be spent within the next six months or sooner because some of the developers were ready to get started. He said that the money would be used to do the onsite improvements required right now. Alderman Dalgo reminded everyone that the city had made an agreement with the developers that they would pay for their share of the water/sewer improvements and that impact fees were not the issue.

Motion by Lloyd, seconded by Gill, to accept the recommendation regarding capacity assessments for developments along Ocean Springs Rd. and Groveland Rd. at $953.50 per lot for Waterford Village, The Vineyard, Oak Manor and Laurelwood.

At this time discussion was held regarding the motion. Jimmy Lane felt that the lots could be serviced right now and said that the city was taking future impact into consideration, which he felt it could not do. He believed the assessment was too high, as they would still have to pay the cost of tap fees and water fees. The City Engineer advised that all they were doing was looping the lines because there are dead-end lines on two roads that are not looped. He explained that the problem was not with servicing the lines, but providing sufficient water pressure in the event there was a fire in the area. Randy Wrigley requested a copy of study to determine how it would impact his development on Groveland Rd. He was advised that because his development was within the city limits, his assessment fees would be credited toward his impact fees. After hearing much discussion on the issue, Mayor Ainsworth called the question, said vote being as follows.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

At this time item j of the Consent Agenda was taken up for consideration. Alderman McDonnell asked about the timetable for completion of the redistricting process and was told by the City Planner that it would be sometime in August 2004. He added that the preliminary plan should be ready for the Board’s review sometime in February.

Motion by McDonnell, seconded by Carvin, to approve item j of the Consent Agenda.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

The traffic studies were held over until the next meeting.

City Attorney

ORDINANCE NO. 1 - 2004

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5 OF THE OCEAN

SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE BY THE ADDITION OF

SECTION 5.14 REQUIRING ANIMAL WASTE REMOVAL IN

THE CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Carvin, to adopt the above and foregoing Ordinance.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Mayor

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Carvin, to appoint Mayor Ainsworth to serve on the Solid Waste Management Steering Committee to re-write the Jackson County Solid Waste Management Plan.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

At this time consideration was given to item m of the Consent Agenda.

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Gill, to approve item m of the Consent Agenda.

VOTING AYE Aldermen Jalanivich, McDonnell, Cody, Carvin, Dalgo and Gill

VOTING NAY Alderman Lloyd

The issues of speed signs and Hwy 90 water and sewer extension were held over until the next meeting.

New Business

Motion by McDonnell, seconded by Jalanivich, to give $500.00 in community promotion funds to the 2004 Gulf Coast Legislative Reception for advertising and bringing into favorable notice the assets and attributes of the City of Ocean Springs.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Motion by Lloyd, seconded by Gill, to retain the firm of Bolton-Lack for architectural services regarding the proposed police and fire facility.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Audience Request

Carl Hamilton asked if the City Planner was going to execute a letter to the health dept. stating that the City would provide water service to the developments outside the city limits. The City Planner stated that the letters were ready to be mailed.

Motion by Carvin, seconded by Jalanivich, to remove the request for the purchase of a color ad in the Jackson County map from the agenda.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

Motion by Jalanivich, seconded by Gill, to recess until 6:20 p.m. on January 7, 2004.

VOTING AYE ALL

VOTING NAY NONE

______________________________ _____________________________

City Clerk Mayor

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