Members of the Picayune City Council had little to say at the end of Tuesday’s meeting when asked if a decision had been made concerning the proposed millage increase.
When the Item asked for an update of the proposed increase during the citizen’s concern portion of the meeting, silence fell over the Council for a time. Mayor Ed Pinero then said that discussions concerning the more than 4 mill increase to city taxes between Councilors have been across the board. He added that the Council’s decision could change during Friday’s public hearing, set for 8 a.m. in the Council chambers.
At the beginning of the meeting, Highland Community Hospital’s new administrator introduced himself to the council. Bryan Maxie began with a brief introduction of himself, covering the fact he has worked with the hospital’s parent company, Forrest General, for years and he also went to Pearl River Community College in his younger days.
His main message was that changes and efforts to reorganize the facility are coming to the hospital that will aim to make it a top-notch facility, Maxie said.
His final message was that the community needs to support the hospital in order to keep it.
“We can’t stay in business if we don’t (have) business,” Maxie said.
Public Works Director Eric Morris also had some news pertaining to a project that will hinder traffic along Beech Street for a day and a half. He said that as of 8:30 Wednesday morning, a large section of Beech Street will be closed until noon Thursday. The street will be closed during that time to allow city crews to replace a failing culvert near the intersection of Fourth Avenue. It will be closed from that intersection to the intersection of Westchester Drive during that time. The work will involve replacing the aging culvert with a concrete variant, which will be encased in more concrete once it’s installed, Morris said.
Limestone will cover the work site for a time, once work is complete, until the asphalt can be replaced.
For more on Tuesday’s meeting, see Thursday’s Picayune Item.