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Aldermen Minutes

MINUTES
MAYOR AND BOARD OF ALDERMEN
CITY OF OCEAN SPRINGS

RECESS MEETING OF JUNE 3, 2009

 

 

Be it remembered that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ocean Springs met in a Recess meeting at City Hall in the City of Ocean Springs at 6:00 p.m. on June 3, 2009.   Mayor Moran presiding, Aldermen Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, Denyer, and Hagan were present.   Also present were City Clerk Shelly Ferguson and City Attorney John Edwards.   Aldermen Weaver and Dalgo were absent.        

 

The Mayor gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

PUBLIC HEARING

 

The Planning Director advised that Ms. Richards hired Cowart Architects to prepare plans for the renovation of the existing structure and construction of new addition.   Mr. E. Foley Ranson, attorney for the property owner, Ms. Mara Lou Hutton Richards, confirmed this fact.   Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to table the lot clearing public hearing on 7 Gulfview Drive and spread a copy of the letters presented upon the minutes.

 

Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to open a lot cleaning hearing for 1311 Glacier Drive.   The Building Official stated the property has been cleaned but neighbors are still complaining about condition of the house.   The property owner, Mr. Larry Jackson, explained repairs will begin on the roof; house will be gutted and restored.   Ms. Carol Jones, President of the Parktown East Civic Association, spoke with concerns about the condition of the house.   She stated the property owners have been given ample time to bring the house up to code and it has become a safety and health hazard.   Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to come out of the public hearing.   Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to table the lot cleaning hearing on 1311 Glacier Drive and direct the property owner, Mr. Jackson, to prepare a timeline of his plans to bring the house up to code by the next Board meeting and spread a copy of the various emails concerning this property upon the minutes.

 

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to accept the recommendation to install 16-150 watt MH acorn fixtures on concrete aggregate poles in the amount of $6,059.00 and maintained by Mississippi Power Company at a monthly cost for lights and poles of $603.20 to cover electricity and maintenance at Fort Maurepas Park (Exhibit 4-a).  

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the Architect’s color recommendations of gray for the pavers and 3 shades of blue for the playground pads at Fort Maurepas Park.   

 

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

Mr. Charles Rivers and Mr. Scott Lemon presented the insurance proposal for the City’s building insurance.   Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to accept the insurance proposal (Exhibit 5-a).

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENT

 

Mr. Scott Walker thanked all of the citizens who voted in the election and also the city clerk and city staff and congratulated the Mayor and all the Aldermen who were successful in the election.  

 

 

CONSENT AGENDA

 

Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of items (b) and (l) which were pulled by Alderman Lloyd and item (j) which was pulled by Alderman Hagan.

 

Alderman Lloyd pulled item (b) to ask if there were intentions to update and revise the guidelines for Ocean Springs Historic District Design.   The Planning Director stated there were plans for such an update.   Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to authorize the Mayor to execute the Memorandum of Agreement for Certified Local Government Grant award of $3,000.00 to help fund the update and revision of the Ocean Springs Historic District Design Guidelines (Exhibit 7-b).   

 

Alderman Hagan pulled item (j) to table until the next meeting.   Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to table item (7-j) until the next meeting and provide a letter from each Department Head stating whether they agree or disagree with this policy and to further state why they disagree (Exhibit 7-j).

 

Alderman Lloyd pulled item (l) to state he does not approve of this type of   expenditure.   Motion was made by Alderman Denyer and seconded by Alderman Gill to advertise city resources with the Ocean Springs Athletic Foundation at their 8th Annual Coach Hugh Pepper Golf Classic in the amount of $700.00 and amend the budget accordingly.   Motion carried with Alderman Gill, McDonnell, Dalgo and Hagan voting aye and Alderman Lloyd voting nay (Exhibit 7-l).   

 

 

ALDERMEN’S FORUM

 

Mr. James Warren, Halstead Bayou Subdivision, requested support for replacement of hurricane damaged subdivision entrance feature.   Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize up to $5,000.00 from Ward 4 Capital Improvement Account for subdivision entrance feature at Ashley Place/Halstead Bayou Subdivision.   Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize up to $5,000.00 from Ward 2 Capital Improvement Account for subdivision entrance feature at Ashley Place/Halstead Bayou Subdivision.   Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Lloyd and unanimously carried to authorize the Public Works Department to remove the remnants of original wall and street sign once clearance is given (Exhibit 9-b).  

 

 

DEPARTMENT REPORTS  

 

Mayor:

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to appoint Planning Director, Eric Meyer, to be the representative for the ad-hoc committee to coordinate beautification campaign for the National Governors Association Annual Meeting to be held July 17-20, 2009 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Exhibit 8-a).

 

The Mayor asked the Board to submit project lists for the 2011 Tidelands Grants before the next Board meeting (Exhibit 8-b).

 

The Mayor presented a letter from Mississippi Department of Transportation concerning construction overlay of U.S. Highway 90 including bays, turn lanes, driveways, etc. (Exhibit 8-c).

 

 

Human Resources/Risk Management:

 

Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to observe the 4th of July, 2009, holiday on Friday, July 3, 2009.

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell and seconded by Alderman Gill to set the swearing-in ceremony for July 1, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. at the Ocean Springs Community Center and to ask Judge G. Charles Bordis, IV to perform the ceremony.   Motion carried with Alderman Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd and Denyer voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.        

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to appoint Ms. Sue Ray to coordinate the arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony.  

 

Public Works:      

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to declare the heavy rain event on March 25-28, 2009, as an emergency.   Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to designate Andre Kaufman, Public Works Director, as the Applicant’s Agent and to authorize to sign all necessary documents (Exhibit 8-d).

   

Parks and Leisure Services:

 

The Parks and Leisure Services Director stated there will be a city employee picnic on Saturday, June 13th at 10:00 a.m. at Gulf Islands National Seashore Park.  

 

 

Community Development and Planning:

 

The Planning Director announced the Comprehensive Plan is out for public comment and a public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9th.  

 

 

ALDERMEN’S FORUM

 

Alderman Gill explained there is a sinkhole at 1323 Diller Road.   The Public Works Department investigated the problem and found that the 42” ADS pipe has become egg shaped and is starting to split and separate at the joints.   The Public Works Director advised he has applied for a matching grant from the Pat Harrison Waterway in the amount of $25,000.00 to match $25,00.00 which is currently in the budget for a total of $50,000.00 (Exhibit .                                  

 

Alderman Gill advised he needs a lighting study done by Singing River Electric Power Association on Portree Place.                    

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to authorize up to $2,500.00 to allow Joe Gill to attend the Special Session of the Legislature for all matters pertaining to the City of Ocean Springs and amend the budget accordingly.

 

Alderman McDonnell asked the Planning Director for a timeline for the plans for Myrtle Keys Municipal Park and report at the next meeting.  

 

Alderman Lloyd asked for a status on the steps going to the bridge.   The Planning Director reported this was an MDOT project and the steps were included in their plans.      

 

Alderman Lloyd asked for an update on the oyster shells at the end of the new pier.   Alderman Denyer advised it was scheduled to be done.     

 

Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to authorize the City Attorney to draft an ordinance to change the speed limit on Porter Avenue from Washington Avenue to Magnolia Avenue from 30 mph to 25 mph.  

 

Alderman Denyer asked the Planning Director to remove the demonstration strip by the harbor.  

 

Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to authorize the Board and the City Attorney to meet with Supervisor John McKay and Tax Assessor Bennie Goff to review the properties on East Beach Drive to investigate which property lines go to the waters edge and report back to the Board.  

 

Alderman Denyer asked the Mayor to check on the lights on the overpass that stay on continuously.

 

Alderman Denyer complimented the work done by the Public Works Department on Halstead Road.

 

Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman Denyer and unanimously carried to authorize up to $1,500.00 from Ward 6 Capital Improvement Account for lighting at the entrance sign at Highway 90 and 57.

 

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION

 

Motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Gill and unanimously carried to go into closed session to determine the necessity of going into executive session.  

 

The City Clerk returned to the meeting and announced that a motion was made by Alderman Denyer, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to remain in executive session to discuss personnel in the fire department; personnel in parks and leisure services department and potential litigation.

 

Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to come out of executive session and return to regular session.  

 

Motion was made by Alderman Gill, seconded by Alderman McDonnell to extend the probationary period for an employee in the Parks and Leisure Services Department from six months to an additional 90 days for the purpose of evaluating of additional job duties.

 

Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to accept the resignation of Fire Chief, Pat Williams, effective June 30, 2009, and appoint Jeff Ponson as Interim Fire Chief effective July 1, 2009, at the current Fire Chief’s salary.

 

Motion was made by Alderman Hagan, seconded by Alderman McDonnell and unanimously carried to authorize to begin the process to fill the vacancy of the Fire Chief.   

 

Motion was made by Alderman Lloyd and seconded by Alderman McDonnell to implement that all children enrolled in the Ocean Springs Summer Camp program will pay fees for these services including all city employees.    Motion carried with Alderman Gill, McDonnell, Lloyd, and Denyer voting aye and Alderman Hagan voting nay.   

 

Motion was made by Alderman McDonnell, seconded by Alderman Hagan and unanimously carried to recess until 6:00 p.m. on June 16, 2009.               

________________________                         ______________________

        City Clerk                                                             Mayor

 

          ___________                                                __________

                 Date                                                             Date       

If you have a hearing loss problem, then you could just struggle through the rest of your life and not get any help, but to make sure that you are not always desperate to hear and ruining your life, you want to check out the digital hearing aid prices and get yourself a digital hearing aid. The purpose of a digital hearing aid is to help someone with a hearing loss problem to enhance their hearing and live as normal a life as possible.

There is a huge digital hearing aid selection that is available today, and more than enough styles, sizes and types for a person to choose from that they are always going to be able to find one to perfectly suit their needs.

How to Choose

There are some important things to keep in mind when you are going to buy a digital hearing aid. First you want to think about the hearing aid style that you want to go with. This is very important, and while all hearing aids basically work the same in that they use the same parts to work and their purpose is to enhance a person’s hearing, but the styles are different.

There is the completely in the ear canal which is one of the most popular types to choose, and this is the least noticeable in the ear so people who don’t want people to notice that they are wearing a hearing aid will typically opt for this style of hearing aid. Then there are the in the canal hearing aids which are a bit more visible but still inside of the ear and so they are still pretty hidden.

The half-shell hearing aids are another very popular style and these hearing aids are smaller versions of the in the canal hearing aids and they are custom molded.

Features

Also when you are trying to choose a digital hearing aid you want to check out the features that are offered by any hearing aid you are considering. Different features are going to be useful for different people, but just make sure that you don’t go crazy and get one that is packed with a bunch of features that you are really not going to use.

You can get someone to help you if you are not sure about which hearing aid is going to be right for you, and this will make it much easier.

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With my book, “City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence,” I have been approaching national and local leaders who have the ability to make the neccessary changes to the system that will litterally save lives among our most vulnerable citizens.

I must say that I am receiving several responses from these prominent leaders who took the time to provide important information about mental illness, addiction and homelessness.

The governments, service providers and non-profits have implemented many new incentives towards addressing these conditions; however, through my own research I have noticed that these actions have had little to no effect on the streets themselves. In fact, the problems are worse now than they have been a year ago.

I have to realize that these actions take time to materialize into results, but this could have been totally avoided if we did not neglet, overlook and ignore these problems as they were developing.

Even major attempts and aggressive actions don’t even come close to producing positive results. It has been ignored for much too long and the aftermath of this neglect is seriously impacting our streets in a very negative fashion.

My book series is designed to wake-up the sleeping giant. There has to be more participation from the general public in an attempt to tip the scales to our favour. The deterioration of our Canadian cities are living proof of a society gone wrong.

The leaders of this country are working very had to make the neccessary changes for all Canadians to embrace gratefully, including our street people. We must educate ourselves about these conditions and put aside or fears and misconcertions about this situation.

It seems that the upper echelon are open to suggestions and opinions, so this is a good time for the general public to ask questions and learn. Since these issues are so serious and critical to our well-being, the books push really hard to get the message through.

The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness Society has just received charity status. This is excellent news for the city. This is an golden opprotunity for its citizens to take an active role to fight homelessness in Greater Victoria.

This is a very exciting time for the city for there has been great advances recently in dealing with these issues more now than ever before in Victoria’s history.

This is very true, but there is is a very long and winding road ahead of us. This book series was perfectly timed to doccument this historic time in Victoria’s history. It will serve as a permanent record of the successes and challeges that we face in hopes of ending homelessness in the city.

This entry was postedon Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 10:52 amand is filed under City of Gardens.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Today I saw a female patient who has problems with use of multiple recreational drugs and alcohol.  I was the first psychiatrist that she has ever seen, she has however for the past two years been taking mirtazapine - an antidepressant - and this is prescribed by her hospital physician.  I almost never prescribe medications outside a psychiatric remit, however antidepressants are regularly prescribed by doctors whose area of expertise is not psychiatry.  GPs, ITUs and stroke wards often start their patients on these medications, and hospital physicians can also be very fond of them. 

The notion that there is a very common disease called ‘depression’ that can be addressed with the use of antidepressants is very prevalent in our society and although psychiatrists are ‘experts’ in it, the general abandon doctors show with antidepressant prescribing would suggest that its treatment is something on which all doctors have purchase and is not just the preserve of shrinks.  Yet can this be a good idea?  Many doctors’ insight into this area may be no more nuanced than that gleaned from their teaching at medical school, which from my recollection was simplistic and dogmatic.  Is low mood such a problem that we cannot but afford to have all doctors tackling the problem, or has the diagnosis gone feral and now needs to be tamed by expert tamers with chairs and whips?

In truth ‘depression’ is a very difficult thing to define and any doctor who says that they can reliably differentiate it from sadness is deluding themselves.  Our current best shots at a definition, or at least the one that most people agree on, are the vague aggregation of symptoms offered by DSM-IV and ICD-10.  These definitions are so broad however that they stand accused of pathologizing everyday sadness and have in part lead to the ridiculous notion, useful to some, that one in four of our population suffers from a disorder of their mental health. 

Standing aside whether widely used criteria are worthy, most doctors – including psychiatrists - pay little heed to operational criteria, and instead simply going to a doctor once or twice and stating that you’re ‘not quite yourself’ is most often sufficient for a prescription of antidepressants, which is a de facto diagnosis of depression.  It’s illuminating often to ask people who say that they are ‘depressed’ what meaning they attach to this; the selection of responses I have had range from those equating to mild dysphoria to those expressing unremitting misery.  It is also not unusual for a question about someone’s supposed mental distress to be framed in more concrete terms: ‘I’ve got a lot of trouble with my housing’ being an unfortunate favourite.  If the first doctor won’t provide you with antidepressants, the second surely will.  Doctors we feel they must help and antidepressants allow them to avoid admitting the boundaries of their efficacy.

Thus a patient who entered a consulting room simply sad, and often unfortunate, leaves anointed as ‘depressed’ having now a stigmatizing mental health disorder, and as this is a disease that sits independent from a life narrative, other avenues of relief which might have otherwise been explored are tacitly discouraged.  Now take the patient we started with.  Anyone standing next to you at a bus stop would tell you that if someone was already taking four psychoactive substances on a daily basis, then addressing these might be the first place to start.    This is what I’d have said to them, but in this rights-based society if I think this and a patient thinks differently, who’s right?

You might think then that this is a call for psychiatrists to act as gatekeepers to the prescribing of antidepressants.  Actually no, depression and antidepressants are one of the stories of our age, which means that they effect everybody and everyone has a part to play in their sensible use.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that there is no such thing as ‘mood disorder’ but in recently years we have all reimagined humans as intensely vulnerable beings, which inevitably means that people will view themselves in this light.  As the prominence of religion in European communities fades and market capitalism continues to propagate the excluded, medicine has become the place to turn for suffering of all kinds, social, physical and mental but this is no substitute for a supportive community.  They don’t teach us at medical school how to know the limits of our business, so we’ve been simply blundering on.  If all doctors can prescribe antidepressants, then all doctors should be part of the conversation about when we’ve gone too far and we should tell people that they’re a lot tougher than they think.

If you enjoyed this post you can buy me a coffee!

pYesterday, President Obama sent out an email congratulating Creigh Deeds on his victory in the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia:/pblockquotepLast Tuesday, Creigh Deeds won the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia. In a hard-fought race, Creigh ran a terrific campaign and beat two fierce competitors by winning votes in every corner of the Commonwealth.br /br / I know a thing or two about tough primaries, and I know a thing or two about running tough races in Virginia. Creigh Deeds’ victory once again shows the power of people at the grassroots to win elections and bring about lasting change — and he will be a better candidate this fall because of his hard work to win the nomination.br /br / Creigh has been a dedicated public servant his entire life. As a county prosecutor and state legislator, he’s been a strong advocate for economic development, high-quality education, and affordable health care — and he’s gone to great lengths to protect the environment and institute smart public transportation.br /br / a href=”http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/” target=”_blank”strongNow he needs your help to make sure Democrats retain the Virginia governorship. Please visit his website and get involved today./strong/abr /br / Creigh has an ability to bring people together, build consensus and deliver results. He will bring the same bipartisan, pragmatic approach to politics that former Governor and now Senator Mark Warner and my friend Governor Tim Kaine used to help Virginia move forward over the past eight years.br /br / I know that approach works because I’ve spent some time in your great Commonwealth. In my experience, Democratic candidates with a pragmatic approach to solving problems can be successful. That’s the approach my campaign took last November to put Virginia in the Democratic column for the first time since 1964. And that’s how Creigh Deeds will win this fall. br /br /strong Learn more about Creigh, and get involved today:/strongbr /br / a href=”http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/” target=”_blank” stronghttp://www.deedsforvirginia.com/strong/abr /br / I look forward to working with Creigh to keep the Commonwealth strong and to bring about the economic recovery and renewed prosperity Virginians demand and deserve.br /br / Sincerely,br /br / President Barack Obama /p/blockquote

Some time or another, you're going to have to deal with different orchid pests. Some of the most common include aphids, scales, and mealybugs. There are many things beginners dealing with pests need to learn about taking care of orchids. Keep reading to learn about some of these common pests.

Scale Insects

One of the first pests is scale|Scale insects are among the most common pests|Some of the most common pests are scale insects. These insects are similar to aphids. Scale insects usually inhabit the stems and leaves while feeding on plant juices. It's important that you check for an infestation on a regular basis. If your plant is affected, you can easily get rid of them with a tissue or sponge.

Aphids

Aphids are also common orchid pests. These tiny insects can damage the plants by sucking juices. Your orchid can also be passed a virus from aphids. Aphids can quickly develop resistance to insecticide. Therefore, you need to spray the plant with water regularly. Aphids can also be kept at bay by predatory wasps and beetles.

Mealybugs

Mealybugs can also cause problems. Like aphids and scale, they also suck on the plant's juices. However, they aren't capable of transmitting diseases. If they are not kept under control, they will become a big problem. You should keep any new plants away from your other plants for a few weeks to make sure they are not infected with mealybugs. Since mealybugs have a waxy covering, water-based insecticides do not perform well. You'll need to remove each one manually using a dental pick.

Spider Mites

Spider mites are also orchid pests. They are among the most common pests. The mites can feed on the plant's sap by the thousands. You should keep the humidity high to control spider mites, especially during the winter. Predatory mites also help control spider mites. You can also simply spray the orchid with water frequently.

There are a few more things you need to know about repotting orchids. Fortunately for you, care4orchids.com provides everything you need to get started. Come by right now!