Mayor Billy Spiers and the board of aldermen amended a recent decision to rotate wrecker services between local companies.

Last week, the mayor said he was not pleased with the board’s decision to rotate between businesses that had signed up to provide towing for the city of Poplarville. Instead, he would like to take bids from individual businesses get the best deal for the city for a towing and storage package.

“Right now we owe Miller’s $3,000 for the towing and storage of two vehicles,” said Spiers. “We used to not have that kind of expense.”

Previously, before the city adopted the rotation policy being discussed, Miller’s did not charge for storage of the vehicles. With the city’s decision to place the businesses on a rotating schedule, Miller’s is now charging daily rates for vehicle storage. Miller’s charges $25 per vehicle per day. The board was unsure of the fees charged by other local businesses on the rotation schedule.

One of the city’s police cars was totaled nearly two months ago and was taken to Miller’s. The cost of towing with the 53 days of storage for that vehicle alone was at $1,450 at the time of the meeting. Another vehicle was obtained by the city as part of a drug seizure and has to be properly stored until legal matters are settled.

If the city must have a vehicle towed and stored because of the fault of an individual, then that individual is liable for the fees, said Police Chief Charles Fazende.

“Unless we seize vehicles,” said Fazende, “it’s not our responsibility to pay.”

As for the totaled police car, Shirley Wiltshire said, “We need to get rid of what’s ours.”

John Grant made the motion to begin taking bids on towing and storage. The board approved the motion.

In other matters of business, Judy Seal of the Daughters of the American Revolution asked the mayor and board to adopt a resolution proclaiming the week of September 17-23 as Constitution Week. September 17 marked the 222nd anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The board unanimously adopted the resolution which asked the citizens to “reaffirm the ideals the Framers of the Constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms it guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties, remembering that lost rights may never be regained.”

In other activities, the board adopted the tax rolls, budgets and the millage at 54 mils with no tax increase.

Wiltshire requested the board keep the current water rates until October to give the Rural Water Association time to do a study on the rates.

The board also adopted a 9 p.m. curfew for Halloween night trick or treaters.