Technical disputes regarding the Batesville Civic Center could keep the city from taking control of the facility before the end of the month.

Girault Jones of Jones-Zander, the architects for the project, told the board that partial occupancy would be a possibility if they would take control prior to the asphalt and other minor details being completed.

"I think we all want to get things done as soon as possible," Jones said.

Jones also said painting of the concourse in the facility had been suggested, but it was not a necessity.

"You can get by without it," he said. "I think we all agree it would look better, but it is something that would have to be repainted every few years."

Jones said the cost for the painting would be an additional $5,000.

"I don’t see why we should pay and extra $5,000 to get that painted if it is something we are going to have to keep doing," Alderman James Yelton said. "With as many people as we are hoping using the building, there will be a lot of wear and tear."

After passing on the extra expenditure, the city took up the dispute about gas supplied to the Civic Center.

"We have looked at it and while the specs called for five pounds of gas pressure to run the equipment, it has been determined that only two pounds will be needed," gas superintendent William Wilson said.

Yelton said he could not understand why the original specs called for five pounds and now they have decided to change it.

"It bothers me that five pounds is what they originally asked for and now we’re being told he can run all of that equipment on just two pounds," he said.

Mayor Bobby Baker said the city feels like they set a contract and the contractor came back saying he can do it with less.

Jones said everything is up to code and has been followed exactly as it was specified.

Wilson said one reason for the change is because the city requires all pipes running more than two pounds of pressure to be welded.

"That is what is set forth in the code," he said. "And that is what the city has made everyone else do."

Jones said the welding is not specified in the state code, but added since it was the city’s building it would be handled the way they wanted.

"The 2003 code does not say anything about the pipes having to be welded, but it is your building," he said.

Alderman Rufus Manley asked Wilson if he was satisfied with the two pounds of pressure instead of the five pounds originally requested.

"We will continue to supply five pounds of pressure to the building," Wilson answered. "Once it goes into the building they will have a regulator and can reduce it to two pounds."

Jones said the contractor was not being let off the hook for anything.

"The main conflict is the welding of the pipes," he said. "It would cost approximately $68,000 to weld all of the pipes in the ceiling."

"The problem is he doesn’t want to rip out all of those pipes and rework them if he doesn’t have to," said Alderman Bobbie Jean Pounders.

The show was created with the help of a grant from the Arts Alliance of Jackson and Hinds County. Two performances, made possible in part by a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts will be presented at the school on Thursday, November 11, at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. For more information call the school at 563-7834.

This well-known story comes from the collection of the folk tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. It was adapted for the Puppet Arts Theatre by John Webb, a playwright and theatre and entertainment reviewer for a variety of newspapers, from the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, to the International Herald Tribune in Paris. The puppets were designed by Floyd Shaman, a sculptor and well-known Mississippi performer from Jackson, who also composed and performed the music for the show. The sets for the production were created by Jarmila Zapletal, professional puppet maker and designer, member of the company.

The play, even though it’s true to its original that goes back close to two hundred years, touches on many topical themes of today: working together we can accomplish things, the special skills of apparent "misfits" and the value of the individual in a group context. For some added fun, the members of the audience become the accompanying orchestra.

Puppet Arts Theatre is a professional touring company under the direction of Peter Zapletal, an award-winning puppetry producer and animator. Zapletal received a degree in puppetry from the Academy for Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. He will be joined on stage by Keri Horn and Ruth Broome-Hackman. Hackman has been with the Puppet Arts Theatre as an actress/puppeteer for over 12 years. She can be seen in "Peter & the Wolf," "The Nutcracker" and "The Carnival of the Animals," as well as on many theatre stages around Jackson. Horn joined the company a year ago in addition to "The Bremen Town Musicians," she can be seen in "Sahara Zoo," a celebration of African folk tales. In addition, Horn has appeared in numerous theatre productions around Jackson.

According to Delma Fernas of North Mississippi’s Friends of the Med, the helicopter would like the chance to land in county to let people see just what is available to them.

"That is all we want to do," he said. "We want the people of Panola County to understand just what the people on board the WING unit can do to help them."

Fernas told the supervisors that the Regional Medical Center is the closest trauma center to Panola County.

"There are trauma centers in Jackson and in Little Rock, Ark., but neither of them would be able to get to the patient within the golden hour," he said.

Fernas Defined the golden hour as the first hour after an accident.

"With the WING unit coming out of Memphis, our personnel can be in Panola County within 20 minutes and then back to The Med well within that golden hour," he said.

Fernas told the supervisors that there has seldom been any kind of problem getting someone out on WINGs immediately.

"We have the helicopter and medical personnel on standby at all times," he said.

Fernas added that getting someone treatment within the first hour of an accident will increase their odds of survival.

"If someone can be treated within the golden hour, it will increase their chances of survival by at least 10 fold," he said.

"The Med and its WING unit have saved many, many lives in North Mississippi," he said.

Board of Supervisors President Jerry Perkins said he believed the board would be in favor of seeing a demonstration from the WING unit.