By Rupert Howell
A Nashville based company currently managing the Tupelo airport is purchasing the Sardis Lake Marina from Skipper Marine it was learned during Monday night’s monthly meeting of the Sardis City Board.

Corey Gillard, president of Aircraft Maintenance Service of Nashville and Tupelo and Tupelo Aviation Unlimited, and those companies’ director of business development Erick Larson told the Sardis mayor and board of aldermen that operating a marina should, “Not be much different,” than what they do at airports.

The city of Sardis has a long-term lease on property at Sardis Lake where the marina is located and both Sardis and The U.S. Corps of Engineers must approve property transfer at the site.
As a fixed base operator in Tupelo, the company offers aircraft maintenance, hangar space and all amenities needed by travelers of flight. Gillard and Larson drew a parallel to boat maintenance and storage at the Sardis Lake facility currently owned and operated by Skipper Marine.

Both Mayor Billy Russell and Alderman-at-large Roy Scallorn endorsed the proposal prior to Monday night’s unanimous vote to approve the transfer.

Larson said that both he and Gillard were familiar with marinas and knew about providing service, stating their goal would be to bring success to the marina.

In other business during Monday’s meeting aldermen voted to pay a bill of $1,463 for the last payment on work to Main Street sidewalks but continue to withhold over $7,000 in ‘retainage’ until job is finally accepted.

Engineer David Evans explained that Sardis was dealing with a reputable contractor whose bond was current for one year and the contractor was not going to “walk off,” noting, “Right now (during freezing temperatures) is not a good time to be patching concrete.”

Board members are holding the retaining fee until flaking pieces of concrete can be repaired at one site of the Main Street rehab location.

City officials also agreed to hold off on ordering a new fire truck to see if an additional grant could be obtained. They were notified by Jeff Walters with North Delta Planning and Development District that if the truck was ordered prior to a $40,000 grant being awarded, the grant would be “thrown out.”

Panola County has agreed to pay $100,000 with a traditional grant of $70,000 available through a state grant. The $40,000 grant, if successful, would be in addition to other possible grants.
Aldermen went behind closed doors to discuss potential pay raises from funds budgeted last summer.

The board was also to discuss potential litigation with the City of Como over unpaid dispatching fees.