Published: July 07, 2009 10:57 pm      

Picayune council has first meeting

By Jeremy Pittari

Item Staff Writer

Picayune’s new city council heard about a contract that the previous council had entered into, and there is the possibility the city might be bound by it.

Tuesday’s meeting also had the council make decisions about who would fill the city manager, city attorney, municipal court judge, pro tem judge, prosecuting attorney and city clerk positions.

The contract that the previous administration entered into deals with replacing the city’s current water and gas meters. The council was prepared to discuss the matter at length but Siemens representative Tony Ardillo had family matters to tend to that night. Still council member Wayne Gouguet wanted to go on the record with comments that the contract does not appear to bring the city any savings on the scale that it was proposed to.

Gouguet said his research shows the contract will cost the city about $4.5 million to conduct the work, but there would only be a $100,000 savings to the city per year, which would not be sufficient to pay for the work. The contract shows that the current accuracy of the city’s existing meters is about 95.8 percent. The new meters would work at 98 percent accuracy, Gouguet said.

City attorney Nathan Farmer was asked if the Mississippi Development Authority would have to approve the contract, which Farmer said they would. Farmer went on to say if the contract was approved by the MDA then the current council may be bound by the contract. Typically contracts entered into by previous administrations are not binding, but there are exceptions. Such exceptions include contracts that would exist for the span of several council terms. If the MDA approved the contract and city was bound by it the city might face litigation if they attempted to cancel the contract with Siemens. However Farmer suggested getting a concrete opinion on the matter from the Attorney General’s office.

C. Stevens Seale of Wise Carter Child and Caraway Attorneys at law said he represents another company that should have been allowed to put in their bid on the project, Triton. He said that company was not allowed submit their bid on the contact due to the method that Siemens filed the project. He said he expects the MDA to decline the contract. In that case he said Triton could bid about $600,000 less than Siemens did.

The council decided to wait until they can talk with Ardillo and get more information on the matter before taking action.

At the end of the meeting the council went into executive session to discuss who would fill key city employee positions. After the executive session the council decided to appoint Harvey Miller as city manager, Priscilla Daniel as city clerk, Rochelle Lumpkin as Municipal Court Judge, Gerald Patch as prosecuting attorney and Nathan Farmer as interim city attorney. The position of city attorney will be open for bid during a set time, which Farmer will be invited to apply for. Mayor Ed Pinero said this will give the city the opportunity to get the best services for tax payer money. The position of Municipal Court Judge pro tem has been left vacant. The council will let Lumpkin choose who will fill that vacancy.

A matter that was tabled by the previous council was decided upon by the new council. Kent Whitfield submitted a request to subdivide a parcel of property into two parcels, located at 701 Carter St. Whitfield said after the split the parcels will meet or exceed city ordinances for lot sizes. The matter was approved by the council.

The long awaited paving project on Palestine Road is now moving forward. After establishing that all the city would be responsible for as far as expenses would be about $45,900 in engineering costs and that some of those costs could be covered by excess funds due to bids coming in lower than expected and a decision to sell some city property, the council took action on it. The sale of city property pertained to selling about three acres in the Industrial Park to Rheogistics. Those funds from the sale could be used to help pay for the engineering fees. Daniel said after all was said and done with the city might have only have to foot about $12,000 in engineering expenses.

The council then made a motion to approve moving forward with the paving work, which is planned to fix the intersection of Beech Street and Palestine Road and pave Palestine from that area all the way to Neal Road.

During the public concerns portion of the meeting Frank Eggar addressed the council concerning the legality of Miller serving as a Picayune School Board member and being employed with the City of Picayune. He cited a state law and an Attorney General’s opinion. Miller has been serving on the board and been employed with the city for a number of years yet the previous council did nothing about it, Eggar alleged.

“So it seems like you’re in violation of the state law if you let this go on like this,” Eggar said.

Pinero told Eggar that Farmer has been asked to look into his concern and it will be answered by the council at a later date.

In other business the council;

— Approved a decision to hold council meetings at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. Miller said this change will not only allow the council to get home earlier in the evenings, but also save the city on employee overtime.

— Recognized Picayune’s local fast pitch softball team, Picayune Heat, for their first place win in the 10 and Under Class B Division of the State Championship.

— Accepted a $38,491 grant, that requires a $12,830 city match. Those funds will provide the Picayune Police Department with an additional officer to work in the Police Department Stop Violence Against Women Program.

The council will meet again in recessed session on July 21, at 5 p.m.