The Kilmichael Board of Alderman Meeting Tuesday Dec. 3 was lengthy and covered a variety of town business, however the following are the highlights of the meeting. Firstly, the Board heard the report of Fire Chief David Eldridge. Following his report, Chief Eldridge introduced the Deputy Fire Chief, Corey Lindley, to give the Board an update on the work at the Lodi-Minerva Volunteer Fire Department following the merger agreement which was recently approved.
“We’ve got two trucks housed up there now and we had a recruitment night up there and we added about ten people to the roster - so they’re gonna be active here also. So right now we have 28 active members on the fire department. We’re working on gear,” Deputy Fire Chief Lindley stated. “We’re going to try and get training started in January - with the holidays and everything right now… We’ve got a good group of guys we want to try and keep them around,” Deputy Chief Lindley added.
“If you know anybody that’s in the area - fire departments - that may have something that we might could get donated to us, we could use it. The Minerva side of the fire department has zero money,” Chief Eldridge stated.
Chief Eldridge went on to explain that the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors would be assisting the Kilmichael fire department in procuring a used fire truck from Oktibbeha County in the amount of $5,000.
“I’m working with Oktibbeha, he has a couple of retired firetrucks that he’s getting ready to sell and the county board is going to purchase the trucks - we’re working through that with the Oktibbeha board and the Montgomery County Board. We will find a way to make that happen,” Chief Eldridge explained the matter.
The discussion moved on to the next county board meeting. Fire Chief Eldridge stated that he was invited back to the next Board of Supervisors meeting at which the rating bureau would attend. He stated that he expected to start the rating of the Lodi-Minerva fire department at this next meeting.
“Right now they’re at a nine-point-something, so between a ten and a nine. My goal is to find a way to get Kilmichael to a six and Minerva to a seven. But a brand new truck in the City of Kilmichael should bring Kilmichael to a six,” Chief Eldridge stated with confidence.
Following the mention of the rating, there was a lengthy discussion concerning insurance rates however, no actions were made by the board during this discussion.
The next major matter of business was regarding the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act money. As explained by the Board, ARPA money is expected to be dedicated by Dec. 31, 2024 or else the town could lose any undedicated grant money. The Board discussed dedicating a portion of this money as the new Deputy Clerk’s salary. Deputy Clerk Rosie Charise McBride had recently been hired in the Nov. 20, 2024 special called Board of Alderman meeting during an executive session. McBride was hired by a unanimous vote during the special meeting. Early during the meeting at hand, McBride was sworn into her new position as the Town of Kilmichael’s Deputy Clerk. On a motion made by Alderman Clay Eldridge and seconded by Alderman Earnest Curtis, the Board approved to pay the Deputy Clerk’s salary out of ARPA funds.
The next matter of business was regarding how much of the remaining $21,113.38 of ARPA funds would go to the necessary renovations and repairs of the Kilmichael Library. Alderman Matt Bennett provided the board with quotes he had received for various brick and repair work. The first quote was $15,000 and the second was $12,000.
“There’s two things that aren’t in that quote. One is if we can’t clean the awning on the back that looks pretty bad - that’s not in that quote. The other thing is - y’all need to get somebody to look at the air conditioner stuff,” Alderman Bennett explained.
Alderman Curtis quickly stated that the awning on the back of the building would likely need to be replaced entirely as opposed to being cleaned. Alderman Bennett replied that the replacement of the awning was not calculated into the given quotes.
“So the two worst things in the building are: the brick work in the front needs remortared, repainted - pressure wash all of that and clean the front and fix the mortar, fix that big crack. In the back, redo the floor, put tile down, repaint the back, put a dehumidifier in and replace the ceiling tile and replace the LEDs.” He went on to state more work to be done, “Whoever does it will pressure wash the back and get that looking good. The bathroom is in pretty bad shape too, it needs cleaned real bad and repainted. The flooring needs cleaned and stripped.”
Alderman Bennett explained that the library would be willing to contribute help in moving the furnishings and shelves to assist in the clean up and construction process. Both contractors quoted would not be able to begin work until after the new year.
In terms of how to dedicate the remaining ARPA funds, the Board decided to dedicate the full remainder of $21,113.38 to a building maintenance fund. The Board explained that they anticipate the library to take precedence over the remaining funds, however any remaining funds after the completion of work on the library would be contributed to work on any other buildings in need of repair. The motion to dedicate the remaining ARPA funds to a building maintenance fund was supported by a unanimous vote from the Board.
In other news the Board
• Accepted the docket of paid claims for November 2024 and Dec. 3, 2024.
• Approved the November 2024 board minutes with some changes.
• Heard and accepted the Library report from Librarian Sandra Britt.
• Heard and accepted the Chief of Police report.
• Approved for the City of Kilmichael to contribute $500 to repairing the steps in the town square.
• Approved to pay $1,021.18 for a TriState Utility Contractor bill for the Public Works Dept.
• Agreed to a year contract with Advanced Business Systems to provide a copier for City Hall and to pay a bill in the amount of $400.
