At the March 3 Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen’s meeting on March 3 the board discussed charging for the use of the baseball fields.
The subject was approached last month after Alderman Donnie Thomas brought some issues to the board’s attention. Thomas stated that travel baseball teams from out of town were using Mendenhall’s facilities for practice. He said, “They’re coming here because they know that we don’t charge anything, and they’re leaving our fields a mess.” The board discussed prices and elected to do more research into what other cities charge for the use of their facilities. The subject was discussed briefly during the March meeting and tabled for additional research. Thomas agreed to lead the project.
The Mendenhall Police Department will be applying for a $6,000 JAG grant that will be used to purchase six new tasers for the department.
Steve Womack was scheduled to return to the board with a proposal on behalf of Maintenance System Incorporated. The proposal was tabled to allow further research. Womack previously explained that the company would be on hand to handle day to day maintenance for the city in the water, sewer, and street departments.
The board officially declared the Mendenhall Theater located downtown as surplus property. The city came to possess the property following a fire that did extensive smoke and fire damage to the structure in 2016. Property owner Sid Davis agreed to donate the theater and funds to the city after discussions with Booth about restoring the property. Booth said the majority of the funds were used to clean the building. The theater’s roof collapsed several years ago and it has not been operational for quite some time. Alderman Robert Mangum previously assessed that the only things that were in good standing were the front and back walls and the floor. The restoration of the theater has been nonexistent, but not without an earnest effort. Booth searched for several grants to aid in the project with no success.
After declaring the property surplus the board voted to dispose of the property via public auction, and placed a $20,000 reserve on the property. Booth suggested that if the property was sold that the money be put towards adding another field to the Mendenhall Sportsplex.
The board approved the minutes and financial reports for February, and also approved for Lorie King and Angie Bryant to attend the Court Clerk Summer Conference.
Alderman Donnie Thomas discussed moving City Hall operations to the Mendenhall Armory. Thomas stated that City Hall’s current location in the old Thames House was in need of significant repairs and upgrades. He believes the city clerks will benefit from the extra storage space. He suggested installing a drive through window at the armory for citizens to make utility payments. Thomas also believes there is enough room in the armory to move the police department operations there as well. Thomas said, “Major money is going to have to be put into this building. This could potentially save the city money in the future.” Alderman Tim Gray said the move would be a burden on foot traffic to City Hall. After discussion the item was taken under advisement.
Before adjourning the board discussed the striping of East Street. The project was recently completed, but the board and several citizens were not pleased with the results. Booth said the company agreed to redo the striping.
