Mayor A.J. Holloway told the Biloxi City Council Tuesday that he has asked for a new appraisal of land the city is proposing to lease to its former owner, Living Waters Ministries Inc.
The City Council two weeks ago tabled a proposal to lease Caillavet Street property to Living Waters for $1,400 a month, which included use of land the city acquired, as well as two buildings. The city has paid $800,000 for the land and value of the buildings.
On Tuesday, Holloway told the City Council that since the measure was tabled two weeks ago, he had the city’s property acquisition team review the city’s actions in the case.
“The Living Waters Ministries case has a few differences from our other Caillavet Street cases,” Holloway said after the meeting. “First, this is the first partial taking that went to court. In other cases, we were able to negotiate administrative settlements, which included council-approved leases.
“In the trial for this case, the city paid for the total value of two buildings as well as the land fronting Caillavet Street. But here’s the snag: Even though we paid for the buildings, a large portion of both sits on church land. Our payment exhausted the value of those buildings.”
As a result of the council’s decision to table the proposed lease, as well as the issues involving the buildings and their status, Holloway said he is awaiting a new appraisal for only the real property, or the land, and hoped to present a lease for council approval as soon as next week.
Said the mayor: “In keeping with our policy and in keeping with state law, the taxpayers of this city must be compensated for the use of public property. That’s the primary issue facing us today.”
