The Poplarville Board of Aldermen took no action after Tuesday’s executive session meeting regarding 101 N. Main St., pending a meeting with William Gatlin with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s historic preservation division, Poplarville City Clerk Jane O’Neal said Thursday.
Gatlin, an architectural historian, will be able to determine whether or not the city would be eligible for grant funding to make the necessary repairs, O’Neal said.
In a separate matter, the board also approved the adoption of an amended cemetery ordinance, which corrected the address of Forest Lawn Cemetery to 233 Garrett and McGill Drive and the City Cemetery’s address was changed to 200 North Jackson St., O’Neal said.
Also in relation the cemetery, the board approved a motion to grant the city clerk authorization to establish a restricted Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund Money Market account at BankPlus, O’Neal said.
A one-time fee will be established for continued maintenance of all city-owned cemetery plots upon its purchase, O’Neal said. The fee per plot in Forest Lawn Cemetery will be $200 and the fee per plot in City Cemetery will be $450, she added. The funds will be deposited into the account at BankPlus and used only for maintenance and improvements made at the cemeteries.
According to the motion, the city shall not use or spend any funds in the City Cemetery fund until the total principal balance reaches at least $10,000, then the city can spend up to ten percent of all perpetual maintenance fees paid after that time, with the remaining fees to stay in the cemetery fund.
In another matter, the board approved a motion to engage the services of Lucien Bourgeois, an attorney with Butler Snow, for the purpose of researching a bond issue, which the city hopes to secure in order to repave city streets.
Thursday, the city completed the purchase of the land located on the east side of 500 S. Main St. in the amount of $125,000, O’Neal said. The funding for this purchase was made possible by a Small Municipalities and Limited Populations Counties Grant through the Mississippi Development Authority. For the time being, the property will be used as a green space, O’Neal said.
The next board meeting will be May 3 at 5 p.m.