Picayune City Council acknowledges award for Buddy Ball and addresses sign ordinance
At last night’s meeting of the Picayune City Council, City Manager Jim Luke told those in attendance that the city of Picayune recently received two awards from the Mississippi Recreation and Parks Association.
One award was The Hayward “Bo” Phillips Design Award of Merit for the design and development of Crosby Commons. The other award was for the Buddy Ball program in Picayune, which received The Therapeutic Programming Award of Merit.
The Buddy Ball program is baseball league design especially for all special needs children and adults, and is sponsored locally by the Kiwanis Club of Picayune. Club secretary Trevor Adam, who also serves as the Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Picayune, as well as members of the local Kiwanis came forward to accept the award.
Adam pointed out the tremendous effort by an individual who was not present at the meeting.
Kiwanis Club members Tom Milar, Carey Meitzler, Trevor Adam, Wayne Gouguet, City Manager Jim Luke
“Corey Dorn is the person who had the vision years ago to get this started. At that time, he was our PYAA baseball president, “ Adam stated. “When we started the program, we had 60 participants the first year and now it’s become a regional thing and we now have over 100 adults and kids. We have people from Slidell, Hancock County, and surrounding areas.”
Adam also thanked the community for its support of the Buddy Ball program and especially the help of the Picayune Fire Department and Chief Keith Brown for their continued involvement. Adam pointed out that there are not many programs like this south of Jackson, MS.
Also during the meeting, the city accepted a MDOT fair market value offer on a property along Highway 11 near the south end of the Boley Creek bridge and GTM Building Supply. The city will receive $9,950.00 for approximately 2.5 acres to be used for an easement for the new bridge once the widening of Highway 11 begins. The land is part of a cemetery that totals 35 acres according to Tom Milar of the city’s Code Enforcement and Zoning office.
Councilman Wayne Gouguet brought up the subject of the city’s sign ordinance during the council members comments section at the end of the meeting. Gouguet and the other council members voted to amend the agenda and then voted to direct City Manager Jim Luke to use an outside agency like the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District (SMPDD) to work with the city to create a sign and facade ordinance customized for Picayune to address the current problems in the city.
Gouget said the current ordinance appears to have been drafted in the form of a download from another organization and modified. Mayor Dr. Ed Pinero asked the motion to include wording to make the new ordinance more concise, as in shorter than the current 17 page document.
Gouguet also noted that he wanted to ensure that Tom Milar and possibly Picayune Main Street, be involved and review the new ordinance before it is adopted to be enforced. Gouguet added that everything west of Highway 11 is being fixed up and looks nice, but the problem is people have to either up or down on Highway 11 where there are needed improvements and enforcement needed as well.
Mayor Pinero and Council members Tammy Valente (center) and Larry Breland
The city announced it will host the annual Veteran’s Day Parade on Thursday (November 8th) starting at 6:00 p.m. adjacent to Crosby Commons.
Also, the local Picayune Chapter of the Knights of Columbus (2227) will have a special meal to feed all veterans in the area on Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
