By Josh Troy
Clarksdale Advocate
The Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners will be addressing issues that have not been taken care of since 2017 during Monday’s meeting. Mayor Chuck Espy asked department heads at Thursday’s vetting meeting to have a report on any items that had not been addressed going back to 2017, the year he took office. “On the executive side, we’re getting ready to have a report for you on items we have missed from 2017 to current,” he said. “This will be somewhat of an extensive list, and we will be able to go over this on Monday.” Espy said he would be checking with department heads to see if they would be prepared to have a report on Monday. “I think this exercise is very important,” he said. “We have hit a home run in the City of Clarksdale by taking care of the big projects, but we seemed to have missed the smaller ones.”
Clean-up
Community Advocate Milton Gardner will be coming to the board about the clean-up of the gazebo on Sunflower Avenue, the potholes on South Edward Street, and the clean-up from McKinley to Lincoln street, just off Sixth Street. “It’s looking very good at the gazebo,” said Gardner on Thursday. Gardner asked the city to make fixing potholes a priority. “I know we’ve been in the midst of winter, and the weather is changing,” he said.
Delta Blues Museum appointment
Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals’ appointment for the Delta Blues Museum Board expires on March 19. Seals’ appointment, Lera Kinnard, will have served two terms. “You can only serve two terms on the Museum Board, and she has served two terms,” said City Clerk Cathy Clark. “So you (Seals) might have to be looking for somebody else.”
Civic Auditorium roof repairs
Clark said the bid opening for the Civic Auditorium roof repair began at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 9. She said two contractors looked at the roof but may not submit a bid by Monday’s meeting. “They felt like it needed to be roof replacement versus roof repairs,” she said. Espy suggested city officials reach out to people they know to see what companies would be willing to repair the roof and what it would take to ensure the repairs comply with state regulations. “I believe we have some local group that can come in and give a manufactured warranty on a roof that will last you over a period of time,” said Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphey.
Civic Auditorium rental
On behalf of the Messianic Order and Eastern Star, Alice Clark asked the organizations to rent the south annex of the Civic Auditorium for OES/Herione of Jericho/Lady’s Knight meetings every other Saturday. They asked to pay a reduced rate of $50 per meeting until they could find another location. “I think these organizations are very vital to our community, and it is to my understanding she (Clark) said the meetings would last an hour for each meeting,” Espy said.
Other agenda items
•Oscar Scott will be talking about the condition of Ward 2 and police presence.
•Tanesha Mitchell will discuss a community east egg hunt, “Hippity Hoppity Happy Hunting,” looking for funding, tables, and chairs.
•Monica Thomas will be speaking for “Enlighten to Heighten,” an organization with a mission to educate children, teens, and adults throughout the state about Mississippi’s history, culture, and heritage. Combined with the Mississippi Blues, the goal is to teach students not only about the celebrities who hail from Mississippi, but who have excelled in the arts, education, politics, sports, and much more. The goal is to raise awareness and instill in people that they can be a success coming from Mississippi.
•Chivas Davis’ Quality of Life Board appointment expires on March 19. Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner will be asked to recommend an appointment for the next term.
•The board will have the opportunity to vote on advertising for an auditor to prepare for the 2021-22 fiscal year audit.
•The board will also have the opportunity to vote on posting for a knuckle-boom truck and advertising for a knuckle-boom operator.
•The board will also have the opportunity to accept engineering services for the Friars Point bridge and road.
