The city of Itta Bena will receive some help from an Arkansas nonprofit in getting its water and sewage facilities up to par.
On Tuesday, the Board of Aldermen heard from Traci McQuary, Mississippi’s representative from Communities Unlimited, a nonprofit organization based in Fayetteville, about the services she could provide at no cost to the city.
The board then voted unanimously to enter into a partnership with Communities Unlimited to receive help in upgrading the water and wastewater facilities. Alderwomen Jennifer Walker and Kim Dawson were absent.
“There are some things we need to be in place,” Mayor Reginald Freeman told the board as he introduced McQuary, who participated in the meeting remotely. “We had an inspection, and there were some places on the inspection we failed because a lot of the things we did not have in place. Just like in other things, we’ve been looking for things we can’t find.”
McQuary, who is based in Maben, said she received a referral from the Mississippi State Department of Health recommending she contact Itta Bena and see if it wanted help.
One of the first things she mentioned was helping the city update its policies.
“We talked about viewing all your policies to deal with the town finances and some of the records not being in order. ... We can get records in order so when the Health Department comes in and inspects, everything is there and you don’t get points counted off,” she said.
At its last inspection, the city scored 1.3 out of 5 in the Health Department’s system.
McQuary also mentioned helping the city apply for grants and American Rescue Plan Act funds, institute bookkeeper training, examine the city’s water rate as it compares to financial need and potentially institute a mapping component of the water system to help with emergency management.
“Right now there’s a lot of funding coming into the state for water and wastewater infrastructure, but eventually that’s going to go away,” she said. “One of the benefits of increasing your score is that it puts the city in a better position for funding in the future.”
Also Tuesday, Freeman addressed the closure of Christy Lane, an issue that was brought before the board by Shirley McClung in late September.
At that time, McClung brought to the board a petition — signed by 50 residents of Itta Bena — requesting that the city order the property owner who fenced off the road to take the fence down. Christy Lane is commonly used by pedestrians.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the mayor said the city had received notice back from Willis Engineering, which had been contracted to perform a survey of the land and determine what was and was not public property.
“Part of the road is private property, so not all of the fence can be taken down, but at least some of it will be,” Freeman said.
The city attorney, Carlos Palmer, had yet to issue the letter of notice to the property owner as of Tuesday, but Freeman said it would be sent imminently. From that point, the owner will have 30 days to remove the part of the fence that is on public property.
The board also:
- Agreed to receive a proposal from Affordable Employee Benefits, an Ecru-based insurance company that provides employee insurance to Leflore County and the city of Drew, among others.
- Voted to pay Mid-Delta Rental for a track-hoe that was not in use but had not been picked up.
- Voted to allow city employees to take off the Friday after Thanksgiving.
- Entered executive session to discuss a possible litigation matter but took no action.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
