Bike Biloxi to have pit stop at GT’s; other news and notes

GT’s Gulfview Terrace and Wine Bar, the laid-back restaurant at the Sheraton Four Points, will be the destination for this month’s Biloxi Bike Dinner Ride in Downtown Biloxi.

The ride, which follows a 6.7-mile downtown circuit, begins at 6 p.m Tuesday at the Bond-Grant House on Howard Avenue and will end with dinner and drinks at GT’s, which is on U.S. 90 immediately west of the I-110 overpass. The restaurant draws its name from the apartments that had occupied the building before Katrina, the Gulf Towers.

The event is sponsored by Main Street Biloxi, Gulf Coast Bicycle Club, Gulf Coast Heritage Trails, and the city’s Parks & Recreation Department.

Bike Biloxi organizer Jim Farrell said the group’s planned visit to the Four Points has excited the hotel’s manager, Kenny Glavan.

Said Farrell of Glavan: “He’s not only volunteering his restaurant, but he’s also going to comp our first round of drinks, he’s ordering a Bike Biloxi rack for the Four Points, and he’s talking about hanging an official welcome banner for the group.”

Farrell said this month’s ride will be the first to have a route marked by Bike Biloxi signs, which were designed by the Gulf Coast Design Studio and partially funded by a group of donors that included Main Street Biloxi. Half of the 26 signs are already in place.

See the route: The group’s new Bike Biloxi brochure, another product of the Design Studio, will soon be available in the Biloxi Visitors Center, thanks to the Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce. To see the brochure, click here.

More info: To learn more about Bike Biloxi, contact Kay Miller at (228) 435-6339 or kmiller@biloxi.ms.us

Speaking of next week: The Church of the Redeemer conducts the annual Camille memorial observance, and historian Edmond Boudreaux will be signing copies of his first book, “Seafood Capital of the World.” To read about these two events, click here.

Meantime, this weekend: You can find the community theater production of “Rent” at Biloxi Little Theater, The Goo Goo Dolls with Michelle Branch play the Hard Rock, John Oates is at the Isle, and Melissa Etheridge is at the IP. To see details on these events and others, courtesy of listings from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, click here.

Indian football: The Biloxi High Indians will meet West Harrison in a jamboree at 6 p.m. at Biloxi Stadium on the high school campus, and there will be junior varsity and varsity action. To see the schedule for this season, and to read ticket information, click here.

Council to continue budget review on Tuesday morning

The Biloxi City Council will review the proposed budgets for the Police, Fire and Public Works departments during its next budget meeting, which takes places on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at City Hall, and council members will return later that night for a rare evening meeting, which will provide residents a chance to comment on the city budget.

The morning meeting, which is open to the public, is also scheduled to include discussions about the city’s employee health insurance program and non-departmental funding, which primarily includes funding for such agencies as the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Coast Transit Authority, the Harrison County Library System, social service agencies, special events, chambers of commerce and museums.

The mayor and City Council are hoping to have a new budget in place by mid-September. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Councilmembers for the last couple of meetings have been reviewing a budget proposed by Mayor A.J. Holloway. The plan includes lower water bills – reduced about $60 a year for the average residential customer — and no city property tax increase. Councilmembers are hoping to either reduce or remove another portion of his proposal, the continuation of a furlough plan that requires employees to take 48 hours of unpaid leave during the fiscal year.

Evening meeting includes funding issues

The City Council’s 6 p.m. meeting on Tuesday will see a host of measures involving continuing rebuilding issues.

The agenda includes measures involving the Magnolia Hotel, which is being prepped to once again house the Mardi Gras Museum; Katrina rebuilding projects involving the proposed Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum, Lighthouse Fishing Docks on Back Bay, and Point Cadet Marina.


To see the complete agenda and accompanying resolutions, click here.

News and notes

Webcasting: This week’s City Desk webcast includes a preview of next week’s events of note, plus William Sackett touts artwork now available in the gift shop at the Biloxi Visitors Center. To listen to the program, click here.

Street work: To see today’s Traffic Update from the Public Works Department, click here.