REGULAR
COUNCIL MEETING, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 AT 5:00 P.M.
Meeting
called to order by Council President Perry.
Present: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Absent: None.
The meeting was opened with prayer
by Rev. John C. Harris and followed by the Pledge to the Flag.
Motion was made by Councilman Thomas
duly seconded by Councilwoman Henson and unanimously passed by the Council to
approve the agenda for this meeting with an amendment to: remove R-4a; remove
R-2; add an executive session regarding economic development before the consent
agenda; add as R-2 emergency repair to storm sewer under First Christian
Church; remove P-1.
An executive session was requested
regarding economic development. Motion
was made by Councilwoman Henson duly seconded by Councilman Harris and
unanimously passed by the Council to close the meeting to determine whether to
declare an executive session. Motion was
made by Councilman Thomas duly seconded by Councilman Harris and unanimously
passed by the Council to declare an executive session in order to discuss
economic development. The Council then
went into executive session. Motion was
made by Councilman Harris duly seconded by Councilman Palmer and unanimously
passed by the Council to go out of executive session.
President Perry called the regular
meeting back to order. No action was
taken regarding the executive session at this time.
Motion was made by Councilman Thomas
duly seconded by Councilman Harris and unanimously passed by the Council to
approve the minutes dated November 25, November 26 and December 02, 2008.
Councilman Thomas offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Order:
ORDER #14455 ORDER DECLARING EQUIPMENT SURPLUS AND NO
LONGER
NEEDED BY
THE CITY OF
and, Councilman Harris seconded the motion,
whereupon said Order was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a vote
as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Councilman Thomas offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Resolution:
RESO. #5546 RESOLUTION
CALLING HEARING TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR
NOT CERTAIN
PARCELS OF LAND ARE IN SUCH A STATE OF
UNCLEANLINESS
AS TO BE A MENACE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH
AND SAFETY OF THE COMMUNITY (1/20/2009 @ 5:15 P.M.)
and, Councilman Harris seconded the motion,
whereupon said Resolution was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a
vote as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Councilman Thomas offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Order:
ORDER #14456 ORDER ACCEPTING GRANT AWARD FROM WAL-MART
FOUNDATION TO
UPGRADE
SAFETY EQUIPMENT FOR THE
and, Councilman Harris seconded the motion,
whereupon said Order was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a vote
as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Councilman Thomas offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Order:
ORDER #14457 ORDER APPROVING AND ADOPTING OFFICIAL
PLAT OF THE CITY
OF MERIDIAN
AS ENLARGED EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 23, 2008
and, Councilman Harris seconded the motion,
whereupon said Order was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a vote
as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Next on the agenda was an appeal
from Catrina Prince regarding denial of a claim against the city. Ms. Prince was not present at the meeting.
Councilman Harris offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Order:
ORDER #14458 ORDER ACKNOWLEDGING AND AUTHORIZING THE
EMERGENCY
REPAIR TO
THE STORM SEWER UNDER THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
IN
ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 31-7-13(K),
ANNOTATED
AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR
SAID
EMERGENCY REPAIR
and, Councilwoman Henson seconded the
motion, whereupon said Order was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council
by a vote as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Councilwoman Henson offered and
moved the adoption and passage of the following Resolution:
RESO. #5547 RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING FILING AND EXECUTION OF A GRANT
APPLICATION
FOR THE 2009 TREES FOR SUCCESS NATIONAL TREE
PLANTING
CAMPAIGN FOR A TREE PLANTING CELEBRATION TO BE
HELD AT
and, Councilman Palmer seconded the motion,
whereupon said Resolution was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a
vote as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Councilman Thomas offered and moved
the adoption and passage of the following Resolution:
RESO. #5548 RESOLUTION
CALLING HEARING FOR COMMENTS REGARDING THE
CLOSURE OF
CERTAIN ROADWAY/RAILWAY GRADE CROSSINGS
INSIDE THE
CITY LIMITS (
AND
and, Councilman Harris seconded the motion,
whereupon said Resolution was discussed, passed and adopted by the Council by a
vote as follows:
Yea: Thomas, Perry, Henson, Palmer, Harris.
Nay: None.
Next on the agenda was the proposed
development agreement with HRI regarding the Threefoot project. Motion was made by Councilman Harris duly
seconded by Councilman Thomas to approve the agreement. Motion was made by Councilman Harris duly
seconded by Councilman Thomas and unanimously passed by the Council to add the
following paragraph to the agreement: “2.07
The Authority, City and Redeveloper are committed to proceeding with an
additional redevelopment agreement among the parties to convert and rehabilitate
portions of the Kress building, 2218 and 2220 Fifth Street, into an up to 1,000
seat banquet/meeting space (not less than 950 seats) which physically connects
to the MSU Riley Center (the “Kress Conversion Project”). This additional redevelopment agreement shall
provide for: up to Four Million and No/100 Dollars ($4,000,000.00) of State of
Mississippi funding; up to Six Hundred Thousand and No/100 Dollars
($600,000.00) of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the Kress Conversion
Project; and will allow for the City to include the Kress Building as part of
the Urban Renewal Project under the Urban Renewal Plan. Completion of construction shall be
concurrent with completion of Hotel.”
Comments were made by Council members.
Councilman Harris stated he supported the project; Councilman Palmer
stated he did not support the project; Councilwoman Henson stated she did not
support the project; Councilman Thomas stated he did not support the project;
and Councilwoman Perry stated she supported the project. Various comments were made by Mayor Smith,
Mr. Leland Speed with the Mississippi Development Authority, and Mr. Press
Kabacoff with HRI. Councilman Thomas
stated he was willing to talk about changes to the agreement. Motion was made by Councilman Thomas duly
seconded by Councilwoman Henson and passed by a majority of the Council to
table the motion to approve the development agreement for further discussion
with the developer. Voting Yea: Thomas,
Perry, Henson. Voting Nay: None.
Abstain: Palmer, Harris.
Motion was made by Councilwoman
Henson duly seconded by Councilman Palmer and unanimously passed by the Council
to approve the claims docket dated December 11, 2008 in the amount of
$2,776,462.35.
President Perry called for citizen
comments. No one appeared.
President Perry called for Council
comments. None were made.
There being no further business to
come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned. Sine die.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam
McInnis, Clerk of Council