1. Patrick Nordin, representing Starkville in Motion, made a presentation for a bike lane to be placed within University Drive. Patrick had been working with Bill Webb, Matt Cox, and other city officials on the plan. Representatives from Starkville in Motion contacted the residents and businesses along University Drive and the only objection came from the Catholic Church who feared losing some of their upfront parking. However, they are placing a bike rack in front as more and more of their congregration is biking to church. Matt Cox motioned approval and I seconded with the entire board approving the measure. The only pressing legal concern left is with making sure that proper maintenance is made on the paths to prevent potential accidents.
2. Jon David Cole and other select representatives from the Student Association came before the board to request permission to host Bulldog Bash in the Cotton District. This annual event also requires police and fire protection as well as electrical needs. I had previously requested that if the funds were available that enough be allocated to support the overtime fees of the police department for the event so as to save the SA money that can then be used to make the event even better. This event is a huge tourism and sale tax revenue generating event for the city and deserves to be supported. I motioned approval and Sumner Davis seconded with the entire board approving.
3. A brief presentation was made on a possible downtown location for the police department. This location would include a police department, municipal court, and new electric department all rolled into one. The preliminary plans can be viewed in this pdf that I scanned. The electric department, whose funds are seperate from the city's, can be used in land procurement as well as any development related directly to the electric department so the cost to the city will be less than what is presented. The board approved looking into this location further to get a more accurate cost estimate. Steve Langston of the Downtown Business Association voiced concern over the future location of city hall since that wasn't included in the plans. The issue over city hall is whether a new one should be built or whether the old city hall, after the police department has moved into a new complex, should be renovated. The concern is that a new city hall would require removing more land from the tax roll.
In addition to these highlights, Matt Cox also made an excellent presentation concerning the revenue portion of the city's budget. I will post a link to that presentation at a later date.
The agenda for the meeting can be downloaded and viewed here.
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