Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich on Tuesday will be seeking council approval to apply for about $8.5 million in tidelands grants for public improvement projects in Biloxi.
The seven grant applications make up a large part of the 19 measures on the agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall. Also on the agenda: Measures to continue the state of emergency for the coronavirus and to hire an engineering firm for a Woolmarket sidewalks project.
The tidelands grants are an effort by the city to use revenue generated from state leases of bottomlands to fund projects to improve access to the Biloxi waterfront.
The projects and amounts on the agenda Tuesday:
– Eagle Point park project, $400,000. Additional funds to add a restroom and pavilion building and a basketball court to an eight-acre site that was formerly a sewage lagoon off Pin Oak Drive.
– Improvements to Lee Street boat ramp, $500,000, to add two additional boat launch ramps and improve parking.
– Improvements to Kuhn Street boat ramp, $1.2 million, to add two additional boat launch ramps and additional parking.
– Improvements to Point Cadet shoreline, $200,000 Living shoreline along the boardwalk on the Point north of U.S. 90.
– Improvements to Sherman Canaan Back Bay Fishing Dock, $4 million, for reconstruction of the marina to allow the large steel hulled shrimp boats to back into a dock along the shoreline.
– Improvements to West Biloxi boardwalk, $2 million, to add additional boardwalk from Rodenberg to White Avenue along the south side of U.S. 90.
– Improvements to Popp’s Ferry Causeway Park, $200,000 to add floating docks on the north side of the bait shop to allow boaters a place to dock.
See council agenda and supporting documents
News & notes: Beach update, weekly report, advisories
The beach: More than 15,000 cubic yards of debris have been removed from Biloxi beaches since Tropic Storm Cristobal, and Harrison County Sand Beach Department Director Chuck Loftis says plans are for a second pass to pick up any remnants to be completed before the July 4 weekend.
Weekly report: Each week, key departments provide a report of activities from the previous week. To see the archive of reports, including the report from the week of June 15-21, click here.
Advisories: More than 10,000 people now receive timely traffic and weather updates from the City of Biloxi. To sign up for the free program, text BILOXI to 888777. To see previous text alerts and learn more about the B-Alert program, click here.