The Poplarville Board of Aldermen heard an update on Phase II of the 2019 Culvert and Bridge Replacement Program during Tuesday’s meeting.

Drainage work will begin on St. Charles Street on Wednesday. After that work is completed, the contractor will move on to Dauphine Street, followed by Church Street and Beers Street in the coming weeks, said Jason Lamb with the Walker Associates.

Utility relocation for the work being done on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive should come out of the water fund instead of bond money, said Lamb. Lamb believes there will need to be three more utility relocations, which will need to be funded with bond money. He will bring cost estimates for those relocations to the next Board meeting, he said. About $30,000 of bond money was set aside for unexpected expenses, Lamb said, but drainage costs above that will reduce the amount of asphalt paving that can be done with the bond money.

In a separate matter, the Board declared a 2009 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car as surplus and allowed it to be used as a parts car to repair other vehicles in the police department’s fleet. The patrol vehicle was totaled during a pursuit on August 27th when the officer driving the vehicle left the roadway to avoid injuring people, said Police Chief Greg Hartley. The Board took a request to add money to the police department budget to purchase a replacement vehicle under advisement. The department currently has 10 vehicles—enough for all officers but no spare, Hartley said.

In a separate matter, the Board approved hiring three part time police officers: John David Herring, Daniel Ray Moritz and Michael James McClantoc. Both Moritz and Herring have worked with the Picayune Police Department, said Hartley, and McClantoc has 16 years of experience with the Wiggins Police Department. Alderman Kevin Tillman voted against the new hires, because he does not want to approve the hiring of police officers if he has not seen their application, he said.

In other business the Board:

—Approved a request from the Poplarville Chamber of Commerce to approve showing a family friendly movie on Oct. 29 at the Town Green.

—Approved the annual Poplarville High School homecoming parade on Thursday, Sept. 19 down Main Street from the high school to the county courthouse.

—Approved pay increases for seven employees in the public works department and for the Fire Chief and municipal court clerk.

—Added Rodregus Dennis to the official volunteer firefighter roster.

The next Board meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. in City Hall.