Tuesday, the Poplarville Board of Aldermen approved a motion to move forward with the second phase of submitting a grant to the Mississippi Development Authority’s Community Service Division, Poplarville City Clerk Jane O’Neal said Wednesday.
The second phase of the grant will be written by representatives from the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District, she added, and will be submitted this Friday.
The grant total is $165,000 and will be used to develop the property recently purchased by the city in the 500 Block of South Main Street, O’Neal said. The city’s matching funds will be $15,000, which includes the $5,000 administrative fee paid to the SMPDD.
In March of this year, the city purchased the property utilizing the Small Municipalities and Limited Populations Counties Grant through the MDA, according to previous coverage.
City leaders plan to construct City Square Park, which will feature a park, green space, landscaping, sidewalk, fencing and parking spaces, O’Neal said.

In other action, the Board approved:
• A motion to advertise for a part-time water meter reader at the rate of $19 per hour.
• A motion to add a Magellan Maestro 404 GPS system back into the Poplarville Fire Department’s inventory. The item did not sell on www.govdeals.com.
• A motion to add Daniel Quave to the part-time police roster and remove Seth Ledet, Shannon Lane Pittman, Rhonda Poche, Christopher Wagner, James Bolton and Christa Groom from the part-time police roster.
The next board meeting will be held on August 16 at 5 p.m. in the boardroom at City Hall.