Temporarily relocating the central fire station after it collapsed last month will come with a price tag of over $200,000.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen openly discussed the costs associated with the temporary structures during Monday’s meeting. Additional action was needed by the city council to include the lease agreement amounts to the previous board minutes and current claims docket.
The Yazoo City Fire Department’s central station collapsed in February with rubble from the historic building falling into Washington Street next to City Hall. Fortunately, no one was inside the building when it collapsed. Portions of South Washington Street in front of the station remain closed as of press time.
Two modular units and a mobile kitchen will be included within a lease purchase agreement to accommodate the temporary location of the central fire station.
The price tag associated with the agreement was brought out during Monday’s meeting after Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas requested that the financial figures be included in the city’s previous board minutes up for approval.
The total effort will come with a price tag of $212,589. Its breakdown includes:
Two modular units: a total of $8,437 a month for one year (total of $101,244)
Two modular units’ set up and transfer: $39,345
Modular kitchen: $14,000 a month for three months (total of $42,000)
Modular kitchen set up and transfer: $30,000
Thomas said Yazoo City was offered the former county jail adjacent to the Yazoo City Police Department from the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors.
“They have a state-of-the-art kitchen inside that building,” she said. “There are also the facilities. It might not be the cleanest place in the world, but you could get SERVPRO in there to clean it. It would have been safe environment, a good place to park the vehicles and everything else. But I was told that we couldn’t do it. I want to thank the Board of Supervisors for offering that facility, which would have allowed us to have our fire department, our police department and the Greenhouse right there all in one block.”
Thomas added that the county board was willing to make an offer for the former jail.
“In Michael Jordan’s hands, a basketball if worth millions, but my hand ain’t worth nothing,” she ended.
But Mayor David Starling said he was unaware of the supervisors’ offer.
“I would certainly like to know if a supervisor called you,” Starling asked the board. “I definitely didn’t know about it.”
“Didn’t you tell me that you talked to the mayor,” Thomas asked Alderman Macklyn Austin. “Sir, did you not tell me that?”
“I haven’t talked to the mayor about anything,” Austin replied.
“Mr. Macklyn…” Thomas continued.
Tensions arose between Starling and Thomas, who insisted on “getting it out.”
“I have Robert’s Rules of Order, and we are going to move on,” Starling said. “This board was not aware that an offer had been made. With that being said, in line with Robert’s Rules of Order, we are going to move on with this meeting. That was not discussed. That was not an option.”
The claims docket with the lease agreement numbers added to it was approved by the board with Thomas casting the sole opposing vote.
