City Council approves new store; change orders
At last night’s meeting of the Picayune City Council, the council took action on a list of items that included approval of a location for a new pet store, changes to the theater building at Crosby Commons, and a lower than expected cost for a project.
The council approved a request that will allow national chain Petsense to open a store in Picayune at 793 Memorial Blvd in the strip mall that houses Resurrection Life Church and Enterprise Rent-a-Car. The new store will occupy the location that was previously a Baber’s Leasing store according to Code Enforcement Officer Tom Milar.
Petsense stores are located primarily in outlet malls and rural markets across the country. Petsense specializes in pet supplies and pet services, but does not sell dogs or cats. Tractor Supply Company is the parent company of Petsense having acquired the 136-store chain for approximately $116 million in September of 2016. The closest existing Petsense stores are in Hammond, LA and Biloxi, MS.
The council approved a change order for the theater building being constructed inside the Crosby Commons. Public Works Director Eric Morris explained that three items included in the change order were for windows, locking hardware with fob access, and brick detailing for the façade area on the front of the stage to give it a finished look. The total cost for the change order is just under $16,000.00 with the windows costing approximately $10,000.00, the locking hardware at $2,895.00, and the brick work for the front of the stage at around $3,500.00.
Councilman Wayne Gouget asked Morris on how the fobs would work.
“Each fob will have an identification number and once it is purchased, it will entered into the software for the locking devices. After that point, we will know all the activity for the use of that fob,” Morris explained.
Morris added that the purchase of a fob will allow citizens to gain access to the Crosby Commons facility after hours and also allow access to the bathrooms inside the stage building.
The city received good news from City Engineering Department. Vernon Moore of Dungan Engineering asked for a change order for the Former Geo Resource Area-Gas Main Replacement Project that would decrease the cost by $14,000.00.
Assistant Fire Chief Barry Lee gave the council an update on the city’s preparedness for Tropical Storm Cindy.
“We are looking for this to be a rain event with an estimate of 4 to 8 inches of rain over the next two days. There could be some localized areas of as much as 15 inches or more of rain if the storm just sits on an area. Not going to deal with any winds other than some gusts of around 30 mph. We have boats and high water trucks ready to go if needed,” Lee stated.
Lee added that the sandbags were handed out all day and Eric Morris stated the city handed out 368 during the day on Tuesday. Morris announced that if the public needs sand bags after hours, they will be available at the central fire station located at 435 South Loftin Street. Morris said that during normal hours, sand bags will be available at the city barn located at 307 Stephens Street. Lee also stated that County Emergency Operations Manager Danny Manley notified the city that sand bags will available on a self-assist basis at Nicholson VFD Station 1 and Pine Grove VFD Station 2.
The next meeting of the city council will be on Wednesday, July 5th with a swearing in ceremony at 4:30pm and the meeting at 5:00pm.
