Mayor Bill Godbold and aldermen handled a variety of routineitems Tuesday as they moved quickly through a board meeting agendain order to attend the chamber of commerce banquet.

Aldermen approved a $2,135 purchase of a new computer andprinter for the city tax collector’s office.

Tax Collector Pat Duckworth said the new equipment will allowher office to link with county computers. It will also savepaperwork in that deeds of city property will not have to be copiedfor use by her office.

“This way we can access those records and can go in there andlook at them when we need to,” Duckworth said.

In other activity, aldermen elected to take a “calculated risk”regarding equipment repairs and workers compensation insurance.

Boyd’s Steel does welding repairs for the city, but does nothave workers’ compensation insurance. State law does not requirethe insurance for a business that size, city officials saidTuesday. However, a city policy states vendors with the city mustcarry it.

Boyd’s does about $600 a month business with the city, includingrepairs to sanitation department and other equipment, while workerscompensation insurance was estimated at $3,000 a month. While doingbusiness with the welder could mean the city’s policy could have tocover claims if there is an accident, aldermen voted to take the”calculated risk” because of Boyd’s willingness to work quickly oncity projects.

“They bend over backwards to help us out,” said Purchasing AgentSteve Moreton.

Aldermen plan to discuss the issue in more detail at their nextmeeting.,

Also Tuesday, Brookhaven Housing Authority chairman John Sartinpresented a $33,470 check to the city. The housing authority doesnot pay property taxes but does give a yearly sum to the city inlieu of taxes.

“This is the largest check ever in lieu of taxes,” Sartinsaid.

Promotions and corresponding pay increases were formallyapproved for six police officers. Promotions included Bobby Belland Roger Wilson to detective, Larry Warren and Chris Case tocaptain, and Robbie Fields and Clint Earls to sergeant.

Progress on a Field Lark Lane sewer improvement project will bediscussed at a special meeting Monday. The progress report wasdelayed due to an effort to keep last night’s meeting as brief aspossible.

Also, aldermen entertained a request to have pilot Jeff Allen’sashes spread at the Brookhaven airport. Officials did not act onthe request, saying the ashes could be spread at the airport andthe board had no reason to know about it.

After being missing for over two weeks, Allen’s body wasrecovered from the site of his crashed plane early Saturday morningin a remote area of Pearl River County. On Nov. 16, he had beenreturning to Brookhaven from Ocean Spring after band performance ata Biloxi casino.