City seeks state’s help to fund new fire truck

Philadelphia aldermen have passed a resolution asking the Mississippi Legislature for assistance in purchasing a new fire truck.

The resolution, which was passed two weeks ago, asks the local legislative delegation for assistance in procuring $300,000 to purchase a new pumper truck.

“There is the possibility some funding on the state level may be available,” said Mayor James Young. “We are on the verge of one of our trucks running out of time. You have to start a year or two ahead (when purchasing a new truck and having it delivered). There is a need.”

The motion was unanimously approved.

In another matter, the board voted 4-1 for a lease purchase for vehicle tracking devices with GPS Insight, starting with 10 city vehicles. The cost will be $18.95 per unit, per month.

“We will be able to monitor a lot of things,” Young said.”It is computer driven and keeps up with oil changes, vehicle speeds,   locations … when you think about it, you can eliminate unnessary trips and you are saving gas.”

Ward 1 alderman Justin Clearman voted against the motion.

“I am not a fan of micro management,” Clearman said. “In a town as small as ours, we shouldn’t have to have tracking devices on our vehicles. If our department heads are doing their jobs, they should know where their people are at all times.

“They say it is a cost savings but is it? If you don’t enforce the findings, then there is no savings at all. You are just spending money,” Clearman said.

Work is nearly complete on the Northside Park ditch erosion project. Aldermen passed two motions paying Crowder Engineering $21,136, and Cain, Inc. $181,298 for their work. Both motions were unanimously approved. 

The city and the county received a 75-25 Natural Resources Conservation Services grant for the project. The city and county are each responsible for 12.7 percent of the cost. The rest is reimbursable through the grant.

In other matters, aldermen voted to:

• Approve a motion to pay Webster Electric Co. LLC, $49,395 for work on the Airport airfield lighting project as approve by Allen Engineering; The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to reappoint Tim Moore to the Philadelphia School Board. The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to appoint Terry Watkins to the Tourism Board to replace Kristen Page. The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to pay Sherwin Williams $1,310 for paint invoices for the Booker T gym project from Bond B. The motion was unanimously approved.

• Approve a motion to pay Chad Wright Plumbing invoice $2,472 for work at Westside from Bond B. This is for the Boys and Girls Club which meets at meets at Westside. The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to advertise for paving project. The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to terminate a Street Department employee. The motion was unanimously approved;

• Approve motions for building inspector Jay Eakes to attend the Mid Mississippi Building Officials Association meeting in Brandon April 12th  and the Building Officials Association of Mississippi meeting in Biloxi June 12-16, and for the city to pay registration and travel. Both motions were unanimously approved;

• Approve a motion to accept the resignation of Precious Jim from the Police Department. The motion was unanimously approved.

• Approve a motion to hire Daylen Edwards as Patrolman 1st Class. The motion was unanimously approved’

• Approve motions to hire Colton Lewis and Kaliyah Tubby as reserve officers. Both motions were unanimously approved;

• Approve motions to hire LaJohnathan Young and Brendan Rea as probationary firefighters. Both motions were unanimously approved; and,

• Approve a motion to pay Nafeco invoice  $10,847 with the Task Force Grant. The motion was unanimously approved.