Partners for Pearl River County has 60 to 90 days to leave city office space they are using in the historic city hall.

At its Tuesday evening meeting, the Picayune City Council voted to give the economic development organization that time frame to vacate the building. Mayor Ed Pinero Jr., said it has been some time since Partners for Pearl River County has been active in the economic development aspect with the city. However, the organization’s Leadership Class is still active, Pinero said.

In the meantime economic development will be handled by the council and its members as it has been since the current administration took office, Pinero said.

About 8,000 water and gas meters in the city will be replaced soon  under a new program, which was approved by the council in a previous meeting. City Engineer Brooks Wallace said during Tuesday’s meeting he expects to present some bids in the next few weeks from companies seeking to purchase and install the new meters. City Manager Harvey Miller asked Wallace to include some city public works employeeson the committee that will decide what brand and kind of meters will be used in the project. The project is expected to be complete by the middle of next year, Wallace said.

Work to repair a water main in the city near Stemwood Drive under a Community Development Block Grant will give the city a good start on rehabilitating the aging water system, Wallace said. While the work initially will be isolated to the area near the water tower, Wallace said he plans to lobby for other funds from the federal government to conduct a comprehensive replacement program in the future.

The concrete drive from Telly Road to the parking  lot of Wendy’s has been in a state of disrepair for some time. City Operations Manager Diane Miller said during Tuesday’s meeting that Wendy’s and Winn Dixie have discussed paying to make repairs the drive. Diane Miller said the drive is not city property, so it is up to the businesses to repair that area and if it is not repaired soon,the area will be blocked off by the businesses to protect them from any vehicular damage liabilities.

Can shake fund raisers will now have to follow a set of rules as presented to the council by Police Chief Jim Luke. Luke said the rules will work to ensure children are not participating in the can shakes since they take place in high traffic areas. Also, the rules state interested organizations need to be non-profit, local and there can be only one can shake a month. Luke said those changes will keep out-of-town organizations from coming into the county as they have in the past, and will keep the public from being saturated  by can shakes.

The council went into executive session to discuss a personnel matter and the possible sale of land. Decisions on those matters were not available by press time.

In other business the council tabled matters concerning securing the services of an architect to provide a conceptual design for a new civic center and tabled a matter about adopting a resolution declaring intent of the city to construct the civic center.

The next regular meeting of the council will be Nov. 16, at 5 p.m.