Mayor A.J. Holloway will be asking the City Council to address two key rebuilding issues when councilmembers gather Monday at 1:30 p.m.: to adopt FEMA’s proposed flood elevations, and authorize a public outreach effort that will gauge opinions on land-use and height regulations.
The council moved its meeting schedule up a day to avoid Fat Tuesday.
The measure to address FEMA’s months-old advisory flood elevations, which the majority of councilmembers has resisted, proposes to enlarge the flood zone and increase elevation requirements as much as 25 feet above sea level. To not do so, FEMA warned the city last week, would risk losing tens of millions of dollars in FEMA recovery funding. To read more on the issue click here.
The mayor’s proposal to conduct a public opinion survey is a precursor to a re-working of the city’s comprehensive plan, portions of which became obsolete in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Holloway originally proposed the idea in the his State of the City address Monday, and the firm suggested performed a similar survey prior to the exsiting comprehensive plan. For background on the proposal, click here.
The council’s agenda – more than three dozen issues in all – also includes a resolution to set aside $2.5 million in grant money to help attract a total of $8 million to fund a proposed park and Visitors Center near the Biloxi Lighthouse. The measure was tabled during a meeting earlier this week.
To see the complete agenda and available resolutions, click here.
Mardi Gras parade rolls Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Biloxi’s big Mardri Gras parade – Gulf Coast Carnival followed by the Krewe of Neptune – rolls through downtown Biloxi Tuesday, beginning at 1 p.m.
For background on the parade, click here.
Webcasting: State of the City and condo talk
Condo-industry insider Laura Brown adds to the discussion over condominiums and heights in this week’s City Desk webcast. You’ll also hear Mardi Gras safety tips from Sgt. Jackie Rhodes of the Biloxi Police Department. To listen, click here. Incidentally, Mayor A.J. Holloway and Reviving the Renaissance chair Clark Griffith speak to the condo issue tonight at 6 on WLOX-TV.
News and notes
SOTC TV: Mayor A.J. Holloway discusses the state of the city in an appearance on “WLOX News This Week,” airing Saturday at 6 p.m. with an encore Sunday at 6:30 a.m.
A Day in the Park: The city’s Parks and Recreation Department and with Hands on the Gulf Coast will host “A Day in the Park” Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at John Henry Beck Park on Division Street. For more info on the event, click here.
On notice: The city has issued two notices this week: a notice to proceed to Necaise Brothers Construction Co. for a $1.17 million project to construct eight tennis courts, with lighting, at the Biloxi Sports Complex, with an expected completion date of Aug. 18; and a notice of award of a $180,500 contract to SCI for drainage repairs in the Edgewater Park subdivision. Plans also are in the works for the city to advertise for bids for repairs or replacement of 101 wastewater pump stations throughout the city and the cleaning of gravity sewer and storm drainage systems.
