Brookway Boulevard project closes lane: BFD to hold Halloween fundraiser

Published 10:27 am Wednesday, October 7, 2015

As a part of the city’s $2.9 million paving project, one-lane sections of West Monticello Street and Brookway Boulevard will be closed today starting around noon and continue for the next week to 10 days.

WGK Engineer Mike McKenzie addressed the Board of Aldermen at its regular meeting Tuesday evening with updates on projects including the roadwork on Brookway Boulevard and Monticello Street. Only one lane will be closed at a time starting with the Monticello Street area in front of Piggly Wiggly and then to Brookway Boulevard as contractors put the asphalt back down. The board and McKenzie joked about the surprising inconvenience of the roadwork starting on Friday of the Ole Brook Festival.

“That shows you exactly how much control we have over when a contractor does what they do,” McKenzie said jokingly. “But with just a couple of fumbles […] it’s gone almost flawlessly. We accommodate everybody as much as we can. There’s just no way to do something like this without inconveniencing somebody.”

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“It will be worth the inconvenience,” Mayor Joe Cox said.

The board then approved to put a crosswalk on Oak Street between Piggly Wiggly and The Donut Palace. The board also moved to include two new pump stations at Manson Street and by the new assisted living facility to the sewer rehab project.

Buddy Thibodeaux addressed the board in place of Fire Chief Tony Weeks who was out.

The board to approved the following requests:

• Approve Stanley Dixon to attend the Fire and Life Safety Risk Assessment Class at the Fire Academy Oct. 13 and 14. The class is free, one meal will be reimbursed and no mileage to the department or city.

• Approve Rhett Case to attend the Smoke Divers Class at the Academy Oct. 19 through 22. The class is $420 and reimbursement will cover a few meals and no mileage.

Thibodeaux then invited the board to a fundraiser for the Brookhaven Fire Department to purchase rescue equipment such as the equipment used to rescue the boy from the well a few weeks back. The fundraiser will be on Oct. 31 from 6 to 10 p.m.

In other business, the board moved to:

• Accept the resignation of Cristi Williams Wilcher from the police department effective Sept. 15.

• Approve the hiring of Harriet Lewis and Ted Bass as non-certified police officers.

• Approve to hire Charity Townsend as the designated purchasing agent for the city of Brookhaven. Charity will also be the person of contact for all Fuel Man transactions.

• Approve the budget revision as of Aug. 30.

– Reflecting actual revenues and expenditures of grants.

– Changes in some income sources.

– Adjustments in some department accounts to cover overages.

• Approve Willie B. Wilson, Jr. and Isaiah A. Turner to attend the State of Mississippi Class I Rubbish Site Operators’ Class on Dec. 2 and 3 in Jackson. No registration fee or mileage fee. The only expense will be reimbursement for lunch each day per receipt.

• Approve the mayor’s appointment of Steven Fitzsimmons to fill the position of David Pace on the Board of Adjustments. Fitzsimmons will finish out the term until 2018.

All members of the Board of Aldermen were present for the meeting. The next meeting will be Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Government Complex.