The city of Eupora received no bids after advertising to lease the former Garan lot.
The Board of Aldermen voted in April to lease or eventually allow the purchase of the city-owned property. The city advertised for sealed bids to lease the nearly 11 acres of land known as the “Garan Property” for one year.
The vacant lot on Highway 9 South is used in an unmanaged capacity mostly by people who are selling flea market/yard sale items. Food trucks also set up there. Although it once did, the city does not charge any fee for use of the lot.
Deputy City Clerk Jenny Hatcher reported at the June 6 meeting that no bids were received; the deadline was noon that day.
“It will continue (as is),” Mayor Blake McMullan said afterwards with no further discussion.
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Other Action
Also on June 6, the Board of Aldermen:
• Voted to table until July 5 to consider asking Sky Dental to remove its sign at the Garan lot. On March 1, 2021, the board authorized the dental firm to leave the sign up one more year.
• Accepted a bid totaling $14,800 from MJO Construction of Eupora (Cliff Davis) to complete construction of a new concession stand at Gary Park.
• Approved the creation of a “Eupora Parks Account” at the Bank of Kilmichael for the Parks and Recreation Department.
• Accepted the resignation of full-time police officer Ty Hardin and voted to advertise for the position of full-time and part-time officers. Applications are being accepted through today.
• Voted to assign Police Department dispatcher Tiana O’Briant additional duties as deputy court clerk at the same rate of pay.
• Voted to declare various Street Department items surplus and seek bids.
• Voted to make reserve Fire Department member David Morelan a full-time member.
James Townsend addressed the board concerning crime and gun violence. He asked the mayor and board to take steps to make a difference in the community by developing “Operation Timeout.” He described this as encouraging people to report crimes or potential crimes when they see them.
After amending the agenda to do so, the board met nearly an hour in executive session for discussion of personnel and litigation. No action was taken.
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Special Meetings
June 14: The board had a special-called meeting June 14 with Jerry Gary (at-large), Junior Shaw (Ward 1) and Ricky Newton (Ward 3) present. Interim Water Superintendent Guy Barnett and Public Works Director Odie Avery also attended.
The first order of business was to authorize McMullan to send a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office to register cityofeupora.gov as the city’s website. The city’s current website address is cityofeupora.com. The website has been updated with more in-depth information about each department and the community, and will continue to be updated.
In a follow-up to a presentation by Avery at the board’s June 6 meeting, aldermen scheduled two public hearings. Those hearings concern 1) the proposed amendment of the Rental Inspection Ordinance, and 2) a proposal to revise the city’s blight, litter, noise, exterior property maintenance and junk vehicle ordinances and to create a comprehensive document titled “Environmental Nuisance Ordinance.”
The first hearing will be at 5:30 p.m. July 11 and the second will be at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 1 with consideration (board vote afterwards).
Upon the mayor’s recommendation, the board approved the hiring of Nathan Hitt as a water/wastewater employee at $10.71 an hour with a 90-day introductory period.
After reviewing quotes received for the purchase of a side-by-side for the Water Department, the board accepted one for $18,712.98 from Big Delta Powersports of Batesville. The board voted June 6 to buy a side-by-side at state contract price out of Water Department funds.
June 23: The board had another special-called meeting June 23 with Gary and Shaw present in the boardroom, and Newton participating by Zoom video. Avery was also present.
Aldermen approved an application for a retail beer permit and license from Eupora Deli Mart (Race II).
Additionally, they accepted a $3,000 quote from Myers Fence Sales of Stewart to install a security fence around the lift station on East Pecan Avenue.
