The Town of Ackerman was approved for the first round of funding through the Mississippi Municipality and Water Infrastructure Grant Program.
George Crawford with Golden Triangle Planning and Development District spoke with the board about the project. He said the next steps are now to advertise for an engineer for the project and pick an engineer.
Town Clerk Debbie Boley said the town had created a committee that would look at the request for proposals and will grade each one. Then, the committee will bring their recommendation to the board at their next meeting. She said the committee would open the bids at 10 a.m. and present their recommendation to the board later that night.
Mayor Dale Reid said going with the committee was the board's decision. The board decided to go with the committee consisting of Reid, Boley, Public Works Director Joey Green, Aldermen Chris Robinson, and Tommy Curtis.
The committee will meet on Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. to go over the proposals and then give their recommendation to the committee.
“If only one engineering firm sends in a proposal, then you don’t have to go through the process. You can just choose them,” Crawford said.
In other news, the board heard from Reid about the ballfield renovation update. He said there were 30,000 yards of dirt to be moved and an additional 15,000 yards more.
Reid also said he’d been contacted by a real estate firm out of Birmingham, looking at Ackerman as a spot for a new restaurant. He said he didn’t know who it was, but the company had looked at several properties around Ackerman.
Reid said he told the company about a property but didn’t know what they were considering.
Also, Reid told the board that the Town of Ackerman had taken Southeastern Timber Products, or STP, on as a sewer customer. He said the project is moving along rapidly, and STP is looking to be operational in July 2023.
He said taking on STP as a customer would give the town roughly $40,000 yearly.
In department head reports, Chief Tim Cook said they received 35 calls, wrote 20 citations, and arrested 11.
“That’s the lowest amount I’ve had since I been here. There’s normally around 60,” Cook said.
