Walmart funds to help water situation

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, October 16, 2009

FERRIDAY — The Ferriday Board of Aldermen adopted a resolution Thursday that will designate a portion of future Walmart money specifically for water plant repairs.

“We want to make sure we have money set aside, that we don’t blow it and so we have money and don’t get cut short like we were (with the water plant) this time,” Mayor Glen McGlothin said.

Walmart has an agreement that the company will pay the town an unspecified amount every year to make up for lost sales tax dollars caused by the move of its store to Vidalia.

Because the amount of the payment is not set year-to-year, the resolution only designates that “a portion” of those funds will be set aside for the water plant.

The town has already spent $204,400 to fix violations noted by the Department of Health and Hospitals, McGlothin said.

“The water plant had 40 violations cited, but when we get the new water tank here we will have zero,” he said.

Everything done at the plant so far has been mandated by the DHH, McGlothin said.

“We are just about down the road to fix the plant and get off the boil water order, and the only thing holding us back is the tank,” he said. “The tank has been ordered.”

Even though the tank has been ordered, the town officially awarded the $476,464 bid to build it to Camo Construction in Vidalia during the meeting.

During the meeting, McGlothin also told the board the town was going to send out a letter informing the citizens that it was going to start enforcing the leash law ordinance.

The law requires dogs be tagged, have a rabies shot and their owner’s information on the collar.

Recently, two women were bitten by pit bulls that were not on leashes, McGlothin said.

Alderwoman Somer Lance said dogs were a concern for her as a mother.

“I have four small children, one just learning to ride his bicycle, and sometimes he can’t ride his bicycle because of the dogs,” she said.

But Lance also said she saw problems with enforcing a leash ordinance.

“Seventy-five percent of people are going to say, ‘That’s not my dog,’” she said.

McGlothin said he has spoken with a representative of the Concordia Animal Welfare Shelter about the possibility of using the CAWS shelter to house animals that have been picked up, though nothing has been decided.

In the past, the town gave the organization $6,000 to help with operations, and could subsidize it in some way again, he said.

In other news:

4The aldermen voted to introduce an ordinance that would set pay at $100 for special meetings.

When the aldermen voted to increase their pay in April, the ordinance neglected to include language about special meetings.

The pay rate for special meetings is the same as it was before, McGlothin said.

“The $100 is in the original thing from 40 years ago,” he said.

The only issue of contention was when Alderman Elijah “Steppers” Banks wanted to amend the ordinance to make it retroactive to April.

Attorney Anna Ferguson said it wasn’t likely such a decision would be legal, but Alderwoman Gloria Lloyd objected to the proposal, which would result in a $700 check to all of the aldermen.

“God knows I could use the money, but our whole focus should be on the water,” Lloyd said. “If we are going to spend money, we pay our water bill every month, but we can’t drink it, we can’t cook with it — if we are going to spend money, we need to spend it on the water tank.”

The aldermen voted to accept Banks’ amendment with the provision that it was legal.

4 Alderman Johnnie Brown placed an item on the agenda inquiring about adopting a town street dress code, but Ferguson said it was unlikely such an ordinance would stand up to a legal test.

“I am 95 percent certain there is nothing that can be done unless a person is obscene,” she said.