The Starkville Board of Alderman met Tuesday night and ended the evening with a hotly-contested debate over the lease purchase of four new sanitation trucks.
The board voted 5-2 to approve the lease purchase of four new pickup trucks to be used by Sanitation and Environmental Services. The two votes against came from Vice Mayor and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A’. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn.
Perkins opposed the measure, citing the city’s closed landfill as a higher priority for city funds. The price of the four trucks was presented in the agenda as $103,228 in total.
“It is within our budget and will cost us probably in the neighborhood of $20,000 to $25,000 a year in the lease purchase,” Mayor Parker Wiseman said.
Sanitation and Environmental Services Director Emma Gandy made the request on behalf of the department, saying the current vehicles have aged and are in need of replacement.
“We did have some problems in the last year and are just trying to get them replaced,” Gandy said. “It will help me run the department more efficiently if approved. “
The landscape department currently has four trucks and eight employees, Gandy said. Two new trucks were purchased in 2016.
Gandy said her request was for two of the purchased trucks to go to the landscaping division.
Perkins mentioned the landfill issue early in the meeting, then doubled down later in the meeting on his assertion that the city would benefit more from allocating funds to reopen the site.
“The problem I have is that we are being asked to spend $104,000 on these trucks and we have a closed landfill,” he said. “There is a closed sign at the landfill and that’s my problem.”
Perkins then cited a city truck that has been missing since the beginning of the term, which has yet to be located.
“We don’t even know where that truck is right now and here we are, we have a motion to buy four more trucks,” he said. “This is ridiculous.”
Gandy said some of the current trucks, two of which are models from 1995 and 1998, are beginning to age and new trucks would help the fleet operate more efficiently.
Perkins then countered saying the city should make better use of current resources and focus on the landfill, due to many locals having to take debris and trash to the landfill in Clay County.
“We just have to conserve our trucks,” he said. “I drive a 1995 vehicle. It doesn’t mean I have to go out and get a new one.”
POLICE HQ RENOVATIONS ON TRACK TO FINISH MAY 20
SPD Chief R. Frank Nichols told the board renovations are 72 percent finished and on track to be complete May 20.
“It’s beginning to look like a police department,” Nichols said.
SPD also gave a photo presentation of the new upgrades. Contract work is being performed by Weathers Construction.
“I believe this is as good as this building has looked in 50 or 60 years,” Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker said. “I am very happy we are on schedule and making good use of our existing infrastructure.
BOARD OKs NEW PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSIONER
The board unanimously approved the appointment of Jeremiah Dumas to the Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission with a six year term set to start July 1, 2017 and end June 20, 2023.
Dumas currently serves as director of Mississippi State University Parking and Transit Services.