At the Oct. 3 meeting of the Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen, Mayor Todd Booth presented the board with a grant opportunity for the replacement of the bridge on South Main through the Delta Regional Authority.
Booth said he learned of the grant through CMPDD and believes the city will be a strong candidate. He explained that the city has needed to upgrade the bridge for a while and has already had to close it for repairs several times. Booth said the first time the bridge closed it cost the city a lot of money to fix it, and fortunately in the second closure in recent years the city received assistance from MDOT.
The board approved Booth to apply for the grant and designated the mayor to act as representative on behalf of the city. The board also approved the city to move forward with advertising for engineering services for the replacement of the bridge.
Booth explained that more support from the community will help with the grant approval. The city has started a petition in support of repairing the bridge, and the board is asking citizens to come by City Hall to sign a letter of support for the project. Signees do not have to live in the city limits to sign a letter of support, and everyone is encouraged to support the project.
Residents of the Pine Lane neighborhood appeared before the board to thank members for “a remarkable paving job” there. David Massey served as spokesperson for the group, saying that he has not seen a paving job on Pine Lane in over 40 years.
He said, “The paving project not only lifted our streets but it brings us closer together physically and spiritually.”
While thanking the board for their decision to pave a large area of the city, Massey expressed a new concern— a lack of high speed internet service available to the public. He said Pine Lane is at the bottom of the barrel on internet service. He explained that AT&T is not available on Pine Lane and asked the board for help to muster new internet service in the area. Massey said Pine Lane is one of the more valued areas on the tax rolls and implored the board for urgent attention in this matter.
He compared internet service to the paving project and said attention for this matter could not wait 45 years because internet has become essential for education and work in some cases.
Mayor Booth said internet and paving are two different deals because paving was in the city’s power but the internet is not. Booth explained that he has fought for better internet service since taking office, and the city has partnered with a company on a grant to provide internet to everyone in town. Board members promised to continue to work on bringing high speed internet to the city.
A rate increase of $2 for bulk water use was approved, from $12 per 1000 gallons to $14 per 1000 gallons.
Proof of publications for the City of Mendenhall budget and tax levy resolution were recorded in the minutes.
The board declared the beacon software Orion CE Kit as surplus and approved of its disposal. The software was previously used to check water meters. An operator would have to drive around and read water meters via a radio signal. The city now has new water meters installed that can be checked electronically from the water clerk’s computer.
City Emergency Coordinator Matt Abbott was approved to attend the MCDEMA conference to maintain his certifications. The board discussed a request for city water service by the developer of a new subdivision of houses being built on Old Gravel Road. After discussion the board approved the city to service houses on Old Gravel Road pending approval from the Poplar Springs Water District.
The board approved increasing the price of a zoning hearing from $75 to $250 to cover the average cost of expenses associated with such hearings.
The board approved the first payment to J&L Enterprises for their work on the paving project before adjourning the meeting.
