Three big forward-looking issues top the City Council meeting agenda for Tuesday: redistricting for the 2017 municipal elections, waterfront design standards, and borrowing $7 million to fund myriad city improvement projects.
The good news for Biloxi voters: Your ward lines are not going to change under a proposal on the agenda. In a hearing last week, councilmembers heard “overwhelming support for a redistricting plan that minimizes changes to ward boundaries until the publication of the 2020 Decennial Census.” Two polling places, formerly at the Saenger (Ward 2B) and the Business Technology Center (Ward 6), are scheduled to move, pending council approval, to the Dr. Martin King Jr. Municipal Building and the A.J. Holloway Sport Complex, respectively, for easier access.
The council is also expected to take a position on the proposed waterfront design standards and guidelines, which are designed to influence future development along Biloxi’s waterfront and provide enhanced public access. During a hearing last week, there was no opposition to the proposals; in fact, only supporters spoke.
The other significant issue on the agenda is a proposal to borrow $7 million that would be primarily to move forward with streets, drainage and other quality-of-life improvements, primarily in the Woolmarket community. The borrowed money would be paid back through existing debt-service payments.
See the City Council agenda and supporting documents
See the proposed ward line map
Hear a previous discussion the waterfront standards