The Itta Bena Board of Aldermen will hold a public hearing at 1 p.m. Sept. 14 on the city budget.
The board voted Tuesday to advertise the budget in the Commonwealth this Thursday and Sept. 13. After the Sept. 14 hearing, the board will meet at 1:30 to vote on the budget.
Mayor J.D. Brasel said Tuesday that the budget does not require an increase in the millage rate, which is used along with a property’s taxable value to calculate tax payments.
Also Tuesday:
•The board voted to pursue $2,000 from the Hope Credit Union to help add murals to the old City Hall building. Alderwoman Mildred Miller said she and others, including Alderwoman JoAnn Purnell, former Mayor Thelma Collins and Victoria Perkins, had attended a meeting where this money was discussed.
Miller proposed adding removable murals on tin or plywood, created with the help of Mississippi Valley State University, over the bottom windows of the building, Miller said they would catch the eyes of motorists on Schley Street and make the area more inviting.
•The board approved allowing Miller, Purnell and Dee Jones of Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union to work on contract terms for the remodeling of the L.T. Brazil Community Center. The contract will be presented to the board for approval. The $27,000 project is going well, said Miller, who cited the painting of the auditorium and other additions that have been made.
•During Police Chief James Stonewall’s departmental update, he said he had been working on a number of reports and mentioned a burglary case. Brasel said that the city is paying the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department $10,000 a month to handle burglaries, homicides and other major crimes and leave violations of city ordinances to Stonewall’s department. Paperwork from crimes that are supposed to be handled by the Sheriff’s Department shouldn’t be holding up work related to city ordinances, he said.
Stonewall said he still had to answer calls on felonies within the city limits. “It’s going to be on me because it happened in the city,” he said. “I’ve still got to go to answer the call. I can’t put it up on the shelf.”
Brasel asked if the city is at least getting anything out of it when people are found guilty, and Stonewall said yes.
•The board discussed the “Citizens’ Concerns and Comments” portion of its meeting agenda. Miller said citizens who address the aldermen often are asking them to take action, which means they should apply to be on the agenda instead. The deadline to apply is the Wednesday before the meeting so that the agenda can be completed Friday.
Speakers also often exceed the two-minute limit, which is printed next to “Citizens’ Concerns and Comments” on the agenda, Miller said.
Board Attorney Willie Perkins said that if a citizen speaks and a board member responds, that cuts into the two-minute period. Asked if allowing the citizen two uninterrupted minutes first would be better, he said yes, as long as the speaker doesn’t make personal attacks. The board approved these proposed changes to the enforcement of the rules.
•At the request of Leflore County, the board approved adding a culvert to the ditch at the end of Morgan Lane, where Brasel said garbage trucks currently have to back all the way out.
The culvert will be accessible only to such trucks, not the public.
•Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
