by Hunter Dawkins

As the city of Long Beach has been doing for the last year, numerous properties that are a potential menace to public safety or health have come under deliberation or action.  Tuesday night’s meeting at city hall with the Long Beach Board of Aldermen was no exception, as the Friendly City brought to the public four lands under concern.

Long Beach resident Michael Kinney; the owner of a house on Dauro Road addressed the board about his lack of compliance with regulations.  Following a brief review of the photos and hearing from the resident, Kinney was granted 30 days by the Long Beach Board of Aldermen to bring his property into compliance.

No one from any of the other three lands were present, whereas the board adjudicated the properties and declaring each a public menace to safety or health.  These properties will be cleaned by the city, which will charge $1500 per property or 50% of the actual cost to clean (the one that’s greater).

Towards the end of the meeting, the Long Beach Board of Aldermen unanimously scheduled a public hearing for three more properties on December 17 to determine if these lands are a nuisance.  Alderman-at-Large Donald Frazer expressed an attempt by the city to be working with an additional homeowner for a separate home off Klondyke Road.  Even though the property was scheduled for a public hearing, Frazer’s working with the resident for reconciliation took the landowner off the list.

In other actions, the board unanimously approved the quote from Tyler Technologies to begin offering a voluntary water bill online.  Long Beach Certified Financial Officer (CFO) Kini Gonsoulin expressed the ability to save money by offering this bill process online as an option.  Next, a roll call vote unanimously passed a resolution to adopt a memorandum of understanding with other Mississippi Gulf Coast city and county governments to form a Mississippi Sound Coalition.

This action was a response to the recent openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and the damages to the Mississippi Sound.

Finally, Long Beach Mayor George Bass brought up some available grant funds from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Hazard Mitigation.  Mayor Bass asked Andy Phelan of Pickering Firm to explain the proposed project for grant request.

Phelan apprised a need to have drainage work completed in the Mount Bass area. The total project would cost approximately $500,000 and would require a 25% City match.  

After discussion, the Long Beach Board of Aldermen unanimously chose to authorize the Pickering Firm completing the application for the Mount Bass project under their current contract with the City, not to exceed $5,000.

Aldermen Mark Lishen and Tricia Bennett were absent from the meeting, but still fulfilling enough for a quorum.

The next Long Beach Board of Aldermen meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 3 at 5pm in the City Hall Building.