Aldermen Terminate Lease For Armory

By David Howell

Editor

WATER VALLEY – After several months of discussion city officials voted unanimously to terminate the lease with the Mississippi Army National Guard for the city-owned building that has housed the armory for decades.

The decision follows two visits to city meetings this year from Col. Paul McDonald, who explained that the detachment of the 289th Engineer Company previously housed at the armory on Wise Street has been consolidated with the company headquarters in Bruce. The building is owned by the city and leased to the National Guard for $1 per year. McDonald said the 14,000 square foot building and 2.5 acre lot is valued at approximately $2 million.

“I know it is bitter sweet, I know a lot of people who served, especially in the Vietnam era, told me they hated to see it,” Mayor Donald Gray noted during the July 2 meeting before the vote. “But they understood, no one from here is really in the guard any more.” 

Gray also reiterated earlier input from McDonald that the National Guard no longer uses the building and the only activity is routine grass cutting. 

“It has always been our property, but they have used it for years and years,” Gray explained before Alderman-at-Large Herbie Rogers made the motion to end the lease. 

Gray also said that a use for the building is yet to be determined. 

“I know y’all have all been approached by different people,” he added, referring to input from people in the community for possible uses for the building.

Other business handled during the July 2 meeting included:

• Amended the city’s beer ordinance to allow the sale of refrigerated beer at stores in the city for off-premises consumption. Aldermen approved the change unanimously at last month’s meeting and Tuesday’s vote officially amended the ordinance, which goes into effect on August 3.

• Amended the city’s solid waste ordinance to increase the fees for collection and handling of solid waste disposal. The cost for residential pickup will increase 15 percent, from $11.50 to $13.23 per month, starting August 2. A 15 percent increase will follow in August, 2019, to $14.95; and again in August, 2020, to $16.68 per month. The cost for commercial and manufacturing pickup also increases 15 percent per year over the next three years. 

Just as in the beer ordinance, aldermen first approved the change last month after learning the city’s garbage department was operating in the red. 

• Appointed Crow-Martin, PPLC, to represent the city board as board attorney. The annual contract remains unchanged from the previous year with the monthly rate of pay of $1,900. This includes a maximum of five billable hours. After the five-hour mark, the firm will bill at an hourly rate of $200 for work performed for the city. The annual contract with Shannon Crow as prosecuting attorney was also approved by aldermen.

• Heard a complaint from Water Valley resident Charlotte Lane on two issues – picking up garbage from the Main Street public garbage receptacles and speeding on Market Street. Lane said she monitors the garbage cans on Main Street and garbage sometimes stays in the cans for an extended period, creating an odor. Lane also said there are no bags in the cans and the cans need periodic cleaning to curtail the odor. 

Department head Michael Scroggins said his crew is supposed to empty the cans weekly.

“It has been addressed and we are still working on it,” Scoggins added.

 As for speeding, Lane said motorists often exceed the 25 mph speed limit.

“They do, people have passed me on that street driving at least 60 mph,” Ward 3 Alderperson Cinnamon Foster agreed.

Following input from other city officials, Water Valley Police Chief A.J. Hernandez said increased enforcement on the street would start immediately.

• Heard a request from Ward 2 Alderman Fred White about the legality of adopting a saggy pants ordinance in Water Valley.

“Yes sir, it’s like a public decency ordinance,” Martin answered.

“Do it,” White said emphatically, citing an example of a man walking on Blackmur Drive.

“His pants fell clean down to the ground, but he had shorts on also,” White said.

“I will get that to y’all to review and consider,” Martin agreed as aldermen were in favor of discussing the issue at their next meeting after Martin provides legal input.

“We have something about indecency already, we probably just need to pull it and revise it,” Ward 3 Alderperson Cinnamon Foster noted.  

• Discussed installing a portable toilet at the airport.

“I was talking with one of the pilots who flies in and out a lot out there and he said we have a need for a port-a-potty,” Gray explained.

Scroggins reported he had already checked on prices and determined the city could purchase a port-a-potty cheaper than renting one. He also said a local company could service the portable toilet.

“What is revenue at the airport from fuel?” Ward One Alderman Kagan Coughlin asked.

Fuel is doing really well,” Gray answered.

Scroggins reported the city makes 30 cents per gallon sold at the fuel cell.

“Some months we are averaging close to 1,000 gallons, we have a lot of people coming in out there,” Scroggins explained.

“We do have a little surplus in that account,” City Clerk Vivian Snider added.

“I would like for the airport to pay for its own bathroom, not everybody has an airplane,” Coughlin said.

Gray said he would work on getting an exact price on the cost of the portable toilet and present it at a future meeting.