The Brookhaven Board of Aldermen are relieved to have in theirhands a written agreement from the Mississippi Department ofTransportation regarding cluster lighting at Interstate 55’s Exit40.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Mayor Bob Massengill said theagreement, which was received Friday afternoon, states that MDOTwould pay for the construction and installation provided thatBrookhaven and Lincoln County pay for maintenance and upkeep.

“MDOT does pay for the upkeep in other cities, but not in ourdistrict,” Massengill said. “McComb, for instance, pays their ownupkeep.”

When a board member inquired about Natchez, indicating a beliefthat MDOT pays for upkeep there, Massengill said he had not heardback from Natchez officials.

Massengill suggested and the board approve the agreement pendingcounty participation, as the city and the county will split costson the maintenance and upkeep. The board followed the mayor’srecommendation.

In other board action, aldermen agreed to hold a work session onunattended vehicles on Nov. 19 to discuss handling issues ofunsightly vehicle storage in the community.

“Sometimes people have four or five vehicles parked in theiryard or on the lawn, and the neighbors have no recourse,” said WardFour Alderwoman Shirley Estes. “Then they want to know why we can’thelp.”

City Attorney Joe Fernald reminded the board the city ordinanceas it stands now makes it hard to enforce removal of unsightlyvehicles on private property.

“We have been down this road before, and it’s complicated,” hesaid.

Alderman at large Les Bumgarner pointed out that communityresidents get nervous when they feel they’re seeing theirneighborhoods start to degrade.

“People get concerned when they see a trend that leads to theirproperty being devalued,” he said.

“And we’re trending,” Estes replied.

Massengill said the board should work on a better ordinance ifone is needed to address the issue of what constitutes andabandoned vehicle and what recourse can be taken to maintain theappearance of a neighborhood.

“This is something we need to take seriously,” he said.

Also Tuesday, Paul Barnett brought the board good news from theairport advisory committee. He said the airport has $900,000 fordevelopment projects at little cost to the city.

“I’ve got good news,” he said. “I’m bringing money, not askingfor it.”

He said construction of the security fence that has been anongoing discussion is close to getting under way.

“I feel like it’s the Great Wall of China we’re building,” hesaid. “But the materials are in and we’re just waiting on someclearing to get started.”

Barnett also said a ramp will be constructed in February whenthe ground is in better condition to lay concrete. After that anengineering firm will be found to construct the new hangar.

The board also voted to become involved in the “FirstImpressions” program, which is designed to provide communities withan unbiased summary of strengths and weaknesses from theperspective of a first-time visitor.

“My first impression of First Impressions is that it’s somethingwe want to be involved in,” said Massengill.

Under the program, a team of five or six people visit acommunity unannounced and give an assessment of the community’sresidential, retail and industrial areas, as well as schools, localgovernment entities, and other points of interest. In return,officials from Brookhaven would visit another city and do the samefor them.

“The only cost to us is taking a day to go,” saidMassengill.

Board members were also instructed to have a list of streets intheir wards that they would like to see paved. Each ward has 571tons of hot mix to use in paving the streets.

Massengill said there is a formula for how much street thatamount will cover, and if aldermen would turn in suggestions, thewidth and length of the street would be measured to determine howmuch can be done.

Aldermen will turn in their repaving suggestions at the Nov. 20board meeting.