The city's annexation became official Feb. 15 as the time for appeals ended. In the plan submitted to and approved by the court, the city agreed to certain responsibilities and timeframes.
Chad Mask, the attorney handling the annexation for the city, went over many of those timeframes at the Board of Aldermen meeting on Feb. 15.
The water/sewer plan requires that sewer systems must be available to existing structures within five years. The city has put in for up to $6 million in matching funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to assist with sewer and water infrastructure. This could help with the estimated $2.6 million cost of providing sewer services to the annexed areas. City engineer Jeff Dungan told the board that it would be best to get rid of all grinder pumps in favor of gravity flow sewer lines.
Mask said the areas have water but may have no fire protection. While sewage is being provided to these areas, Mayor Justin McKenzie suggested it would be less invasive to also add fire protection at the same time. It is required to have adequately spaced, three-way fire hydrants. In the interim, the fire department will fill trucks and take water to the fire scene. They will not be allowed to pump water from 98 East Water.
In the first year, the city must install 150 street lights and hire two more street department employees and one more water employee.
Marion County has no zoning ordinances, so the city will have to create a comprehensive plan/vision of how the land will be developed in the future. They must hold public hearings to arrive at that plan, then the city can then extend zoning. The issues could be with large parcels of land that the city may want to develop in the future. Mask suggested hiring a planner to assist with this.
Business permits that have already been paid to the county will expire Sept. 30 when the city will begin charging for and issuing those.
The city began collecting taxes on vehicle tags Feb. 15 and will begin collecting property and sales taxes in January 2022.
The sales tax will not go up due to the annexation. Now, 18.5% of the sales taxes collected by the Mississippi Department of Revenue will go to the city instead. Mask told the board it is up to the city to make sure it gets that money from the DOR. The city must get a correct list of the more than 40 businesses and addresses to the DOR for this money transfer to take place.
Columbia Police Chief Michael Kelly announced several personnel changes that were approved. Lisa McNease was moved from part time to full time as a dispatcher, while Alicia Dantzler was hired as a part-time dispatcher. Donneil Fortenberry's resignation was accepted as of Feb. 28. Austin Riels was promoted from step three to sergeant.
Laurie Williamson was promoted from step one to step two after graduating from the police academy. Williamson graduated as Top Cop with the highest average in all areas and won the PT award.
Congratulations went out to Officer Markeisha Barber and Sgt. Justin Porter who were married over the weekend.
City engineer Jeff Dungan spoke to the board about several projects. The city has applied for a matching 50/50 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for $50,000 according to Dungan. A grant has been received from the Mississippi Department of Transportation for the pedestrian bridges at the Sportsplex. The Honey Alley work should begin soon after work was held up due to the events downtown.
Two interlocal agreements, which are an effective way for local political entities to work together to reach a common goal and save money, were approved by the board.
The first was in regards to Friendship Church Road, which was split between the city and county in the annexation. The city agreed to maintain the portion of the road that it did not annex because it is in the middle of two annexed portions.
The second pertained to Senate Bill 2971, which gave the city $500,000 for repairs to courthouse square. The funds were to go to the county. The board approved giving the funds to the county, and the county agreed to do the work set forth by the bill.
McKenzie referred to this as a "good partnership and good diplomacy between the city and county that shows a good working relationship has developed."
McKenzie announced that Columbia would take part in the March of Mayors sponsored by Extra Table. Each city has a different food to donate, and they have requested that Columbia and Marion County donate dried beans. All foods are accepted, but the organization wants to be sure there is a variety. Donations will be used to support the Marion County Food Pantry and Hope Community Collective locally.
