The Picayune City Council tackled a number of matters during its regular meeting Tuesday, while still missing two of its members. 

Councilors Lynn Bogan Bumpers and Larry Breland’s absence continued, which began after a meeting was held to set the city’s budget on Sept. 15. During that meeting, both members left the meeting abruptly after their budget requests were unfulfilled.

That hiatus was broken briefly for an emergency meeting to establish a state of emergency prior to the landfall of Hurricane Nate, held the Friday before the storm. When asked, City Attorney said he could not comment on any potential action the city could take against the absent Councilors because his research on the matter has yet to be provided to the city manager for review.

At the beginning of the meeting, Archie Rawls, the new director of the Pearl River County Community Band, invited the Council to a concert at the Picayune School District Auditorium on Nov. 12 starting at 3 p.m. Rawls said the concert is a free event, but they will accept donations to help defray the cost of renting the building. Rawls said some members of the band will be present for the grand reopening of Crosby Commons on Nov. 6.

He invites anyone interested in joining the band to do so, which is comprised of about 50 people of all ages in Pearl River and Hancock counties.

The Council also approved a motion to change zoning for all parcels in the Little Goodyear community from M-1 (mobile home) to R-3 (multi-family residential). Code Enforcement Officer Tom Milar said the change was needed to allow the city to construct the new fire station at the end of Goodyear Boulevard since the current zoning of I-1 would require a set-back of at least 100 feet from the road to the front of the building. He said the piece of property where the fire station will be constructed does not have sufficient space to meet that requirement.

He said the change to the ordinance grandfathers all current mobile homes in under the city’s zoning regulations. Also, should a conforming mobile home be damaged, it could be replaced within six months and retain that exemption.

A matter to allow city employees to demolish the old Picayune Housing Authority Office, located at 1511 Formby Davis Ave., was approved by the Council. Public Works Director Eric Morris said the agreement will mean that the Housing Authority will assume maintenance responsibilities for a piece of green space at the end of Kingsway Drive in exchange for the city demolishing the building. Additionally, the Housing Authority will pay for the roll off dumpster and any other fees to dispose of any debris that has to be taken to the Central Landfill in Millard.

In other business the Council:

— Approved a motion to award Cornell Malone Corporation the contract for the roof replacement work at the Picayune Police Department at a cost of $232,200. Morris said the work will include new HVAC systems and that the project is within budget.

— Awarded the bid from Jay Lee Company Inc., of $108,828 for phase two of the natural gas main replacement project in the Geo Resources area of the city. Morris said after this work is complete, 30 percent of the lines in that area will have been replaced. The remaining 70 percent will still need to be replaced soon.

— Went into executive session to discuss a personnel matter.

A decision on that matter was not available at press time.

The next Council meeting will be Nov. 7, at 5 p.m.