Eupora aldermen voted last week to make a three-way stop at a neighborhood intersection in an effort to deter speeding drivers. South Dunn Street resident Jim Brown appeared before the Board of Aldermen on Sept. 8 about the issue. He said speeding on Dunn Street has been going on quite a while, even with the placement of speed bumps. Brown requested that a three-way stop be placed at the intersection of South Dunn and Walnut Avenue or additional speed bumps. He said a petition had been started requesting this. Police Chief Gregg Hunter agreed that a three-way stop would be an effective way of controlling traffic there. "You need some kind of deterrent to people using that as a cut-through to Highway 9 South," he said. "In my opinion, we have a higher volume of traffic because people are trying to get to Highway 9 South." After some discussion, Howard Rumore (Ward 2) offered a motion to make the intersection a three-way stop and review its effectiveness later. Robert Gibbs (Ward 4) seconded the motion. The motion was approved with three aye votes from Rumore, Gibbs and Junior Shaw (Ward 1). Jerry Gary (at-large) voted nay and Hugh Gibson (Ward 3) abstained. The intersection is located in Ward 3. The three-way stop sign has since been installed and traffic cones have been placed on both sides of the intersection on Dunn Street. Committee Reports Also last week, representatives of the Eupora Beautification, Cleanup and Marketing Committees gave updates and asked questions. Lyn Blaylock said open house for merchants will be Nov. 14 and a Christmas tree lighting will be Dec. 2 in the Depot Park. Cathy Embry, chair of the Beautification Committee, said some businesses are not aware of or not complying with the smoke-free ordinance, referring to cigarette butts around some stores. She said the ordinance needs to be enforced in order to be receive Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation grants. Embry asked Public Works Director Scott Cooper, who also serves as compliance officer and code enforcement officer, to take letters to all businesses about the ordinance and have the managers sign off on them. Cleanup Committee Chair Bruce Walters again asked about identifying properties that are not cleaning up. He said notification letters that have been mailed to violators are not working, adding, “We think personal contact works best.” Walters gave Cooper a list of properties that he said need attention. National Guard Armory Status Clayton Allen addressed the board concerning a letter sent to the city about the possible closing of the National Guard armory here. Allen said he thought the city should express its desire to keep it open. Mayor Lamar Dumas said he has a meeting set up concerning the matter this Friday. The board approved a motion by Jerry Gary (at-large) requesting that the National Guard remain in Eupora as a unit. Department Head Reports Tyler Bierdeman told the board he has decided to resign as fire chief because he can no longer devote sufficient time to those duties while also serving as a full-time police officer. The board voted to accept his resignation as fire chief to take effect when a replacement is named. Bierdeman said he wants to remain on the Fire Department. Also at his request, the board voted to increase firefighters’ pay for medical calls and fire drills to $10 each, up from $7.50. Additionally, the board voted to add Bill Baker to the volunteer fire roster. Bierdeman also said fire hydrants will be tested and Cooper reported that the Water Department is looking at stepping up active flushing of hydrants. Police Chief Hunter reported that the Eupora Police Department is now certified as compliant with the National Incident-Based Reporting System. He said a new computer program was purchased to make this happen. NIBRS is a uniform way for law enforcement to report crimes consistent with the standards established by the FBI. By Jan. 1, the FBI intends for NIBRS to be the law enforcement crime data-reporting standard for the nation. Executive Session The board went into executive session to discuss personnel with Hunter. Based upon discussion with Hunter beforehand, this concerned the hiring of Officer Kenneth Scott as a full-time certified police officer on March 26. When hired, Scott was a full-time certified officer with the Calhoun City Police Department. Calhoun City later sent an invoice to the city billing it $3,887.02 for transfer reimbursement expenses for Scott. That amount represents expenses for academy training, salary and expenses, less state reimbursement for tuition. Entities are required to reimburse one another for the proportionate share of the cost of training a law enforcement officer if an agency hires the officer within 36 months of training. According to the invoice, Scott served 17 months with Calhoun City. After exiting the executive session, the board voted to authorize the city attorney to offer one-half the amount invoiced. Other Business In other business, the board voted to: • accept the city audit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2018. This followed a presentation by Chris Turnipseed of Watkins, Ward and Stafford, who said the city received an unqualified/clean opinion. • look into submitting a grant application to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi to start a farmers’ market. The grant application is due by Oct. 20. • amend the city’s contract with Noah Barnett to replace faulty radio-read meter heads by paying him $2 more per meter. This was requested because of additional work involving GPS readings. The board voted in July to contract with Barnett to replace approximately 1,030 old meter heads in the Eupora and outside systems at $5 per meter. The new meters are being provided by Master Meter at no cost; the city must return the old ones. • approve the year-end claims docket and budget adjustments during a special-called meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28. • accept three low bids from an Aug. 6 bid opening for the city’s water system project. These bids were awarded: Part 1: water well construction — $653,500 total bid from Parks and Parks Water Well Service (base bid and Alternate No. 1). Part 2: 200,000-gallon elevated tank — $680,000 bid from Caldwell Tanks Park 3: Water distribution improvements — $1,701,294.25 total bid from 4-D Construction (base bid and Alternate No. 1). Blake and Melissa McMullan asked the city to consider allowing them to move Frost Bites snow cone and ice cream stand from 1559 Veterans Memorial Blvd. (next to Nabors Home Center) to their residence at 305 Whites Creek Lake Circle. The McMullans were told they would need to submit a rezoning request form and that a public hearing will be necessary. George Crawford of the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District gave an update on the city’s HOME project. He also said an application had been submitted to USDA Rural Development for a Community Facilities Grant (75% reimbursable) to purchase a new vehicle for the Police Department. This followed a related public hearing on Aug. 31.
