Recap of Nov. 8, 2011 Special Call Meeting

Last night when people were scrambling to make it to the voter polls before they closed, the City of Lumberton was holding a special called meeting. I noticed the agenda was different from the one set by Mayor Holder at the regularly scheduled meeting and I was told that Rebecca Hale and Bobby Gibson signed the agenda so they could add some new agenda items. The first order of business was the order to hold a public hearing on the rezoning of 601 E. Main Avenue to Old Hwy 11 to Commercial (C-1). There were several comments about the rezoning of the property. Somehow, the discussion turned into a session about the LPZC-Lumberton Planning and Zoning Committee. Cora Rogers asked each alderman if they would explain why they voted to disband the LPZC and the only alderman that gave a response was Aldermen Quincy Rogers who said that he was against the disbanding of the LPZC. Alderman Timothy Johnson said that he did not think this was the forum for discussing their vote and he, Kent Crider and Bobby Gibson refused to answer Mrs. Rogers and told the mayor that they were ready to vote on the issue at hand. Prior to Cora Rogers question about the LPZC, Johnson did say that the need to rezone was in order for Lumberton to be seen as a business friendly city and to encourage growth instead of having business deal with guidelines and regulations. Interesting!
Several months ago, Ben Winston scrambled to get the new industrial park certified so he could list it as one of his accomplishments in the recent election. The ADP designated the area as site ready, and at the time of the announcement, it was the only site-ready certification in this area. Somehow, the City of Ellisville along with Mayor Tim Waldrup and planning and zoning committee managed to secure a contract with General Electric Aviation and now the City of Ellisville will be the new home of a $56 million dollar facility that will create at least 250 new jobs in 2013. The City of Hattiesburg, along with Mayor Dupree, and the Hattiesburg planning and zoning committee was able to secure Stion Solar Panel Corporation and get them to invest $150 million in a production plant in the City of Hattiesburg, MS. So, it seems that the cities that are interested in using their planning and zoning committee are getting some great returns. But we all know that the planning and zoning issue is of a personal not professional nature.
There was an agenda item to hold a public hearing on re-zoning of land that is owned by Paul Ockmond and Ben Winston, but Bobby Gibson asked to table the matter because Winston was dealing with the election. Paul Ockmond objected as Mayor Holder was about to adjourn the meeting. First, Paul Ockmond asked the mayor was she going to allow the city workers to seal the siding of his building on Main Street. Mayor Holder explained to him that the city could not go onto private property to paint his building and she also tried to explain to him that the city could not pay to have his building painted because it would be deemed a donation; which is against the law. Ockmond then said that he knew what he needed to do. Now this will be interesting. Paul Ockmond has said on many occasions that he loves the City of Lumberton and that he started the LEDC (Lumberton Economic Development Council) to help promote Lumberton, but now he's upset that the city will not paint his building at a cost of $300 in services and goods despite the fact that the City of Lumberton paid him over $40,000 for the buildings they tore down on Main Street. Ockmond is now threatening to sue the City of Lumberton because they're not willing to continue to break laws for his benefit. But before Paul sat down, he looked at Bobby Gibson and told him "you know what you're supposed to do." More than likely, Bobby Gibson is going to get his team to break the law so he can appease Massa Ockmond. Now keep in mind that there are no more funds left from in-kind services because the city used those funds to pay for the demolition of the buildings. I'm interested in seeing how they're going to finagle this deal.
Again, Mayor Holder asked for a vote to adjourn the meeting and this time Ben Barrett jumped up and wanted to discuss the water bill issue and his workers. This is how I know the aldermen don't listen or they're just hoping that the audience is not listening. Barrett stated that he has several employees that have delinquent water bills and he wanted to know if he could have their water bills deducted from their payroll checks. Seriously??? You mean to tell me that the ones cutting off other people's water for non-payment are actually not paying their water bills. I told you that something was going on in the water department, but I never considered the fact that it was taking place in the fields instead of the office. Mayor Holder has been calling for a system of checks and balances for quite sometime, but our aldermen are just ready to raise the water rates and avoid any real discussion about what's taking place in the public works department. In other words, pass the burden on the citizens of Lumberton. Kudos to the new public works director, Ben Barrett, Jr. He's actually getting out in the trenches and doing the work that needs to be done. Unfortunately, this may not fare well with his employment in the City of Lumberton because history has proven that this group of aldermen doesn’t look too kindly upon those that are actually doing their jobs.