Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas said she is concerned over a payment made by the city towards the installation of the downtown Christmas lights when she said a contract was already in place and paid for by the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
During the Nov. 13 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, Mayor David Starling added a $3,500 payment to Tracey Gates with Gates Tree Service “for hanging Christmas lights on Main Street.” The city council approved adding the payment to the city’s claims docket during that meeting.
According to the invoice to the city, which was dated on Oct. 2, the cost of $3,500 was provided to put “up the Christmas lights in the downtown area of Yazoo City.” The invoice was filed by the city clerk’s office on Nov. 13.
However, the Yazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau already had a contract in place with Gates concerning the project. Part of the CVB’s contract states that the lights are to be installed before Holiday Open House. The CVB had also paid Gates for the installation services.
“You made the statement that the CVB was not willing to work with the city on the lights,” Thomas said, to Starling during Monday’s meeting. “I just asked (the CVB) what had we done as a city that we couldn’t get them to help us with the lights. I was informed that the CVB paid for the Christmas lights and the installation.”
The Herald also confirmed with a CVB board member that the light installation had been covered as part of the contract to have the lights installed before Holiday Open House.
But Starling said the city paid the $3,500 to “get the lights up early.”
“You are welcome to ask the downtown merchants,” Starling replied. “Nothing was given to us. In that conversation, Mr. Gates was asked to get them up early so we could see exactly what was working and what was not working. I have several downtown merchants who sat in on meetings with (the CVB), and they said that after this year, they didn’t want to hear anything about the lights. We said that we were not going to keep begging. Perhaps next year some new lights will be purchased. That part did not matter to me. What mattered to me, and what I asked this board to do was pay the gentleman who put the lights up. He charged $17,000 to hang the lights. What we paid him for was to get out here and get them up early so we could see what needed work.”
The CVB has contributed about $10,000 to purchase new lights. As part of its payment installation system within the contract, the CVB paid for the lights to be installed by Holiday Open House. The final installation payment is made once the lights are removed and properly stored to complete the contract balance.
After being made aware of that contract and payment, Thomas said she still did not understand why the city paid $3,500 towards the project.
“Nothing was done to trick or combat the CVB,” Starling said. “They were at their wits end. We are trying to buy new decorations that we have to put on the light poles. That is what the $3,500 in that invoice was, to get them up early.”
“Our $3,500 went to a specific individual who they chose to get them up early and go through them to see what was working and what was not working,” Starling continued. “I assume they are still going to give this gentleman whatever he charges for getting them up. He did us a favor because we couldn’t be next week trying to see what lights worked. I had people downtown who were concerned that it was not going to work. They wanted us to buy new lights. Again, the CVB gave money to the downtowner’s association. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“You say he was paid $3,500 to put them up early,” Alderman Jammie McCoy asked. “But then they are going to come back and pay him $17,000 to put them up when he has already put them up?”
Starling replied that the $17,000 price tag comes with the installation, removal and maintenance of the lights while they are up.
“The ladies who were coming in here to meet with us and asking the city to buy new lights…we can’t buy lights for downtown,” Starling said. “We can buy them for the street poles, but we can’t buy them for individual businesses.”
Following the discussion, Thomas opposed accepting the Nov. 13 board minutes, adding that she felt something was not right about the payment for the lights.
