By John Howell
Bid openings scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting of Batesville’s board of mayor and aldermen filled audience seats with contractors’ representatives hopeful that their calculations had been sufficiently low.

Bickerstaff Brothers of Batesville was apparently successful among the eight contractors who submitted bids for Phase One of Sanitary Sewer Extension for Hunter’s Trace Subdivision. Bickerstaff bid $223,416 for the project. Bids ranged to $318,875.70.

Griner Drilling Service of Richland was the apparent low bidder to drill the city’s new water well east of Interstate 55. Griner bid $769,300 to drill the well at the site that has been cleared next to the new frontage road under construction between Pine Lodge Road and Merit Health/Walmart area. 

Three bids bids were submitted for the well project. The high bid was $776,300.
Aldermen voted to take the bids under advisement pending review of the city engineer.
Longest meeting

Tuesday’s meeting was the longest in recent memory, beginning at 2 p.m. and continuing until almost 7:30 p.m. Executive sessions to consider personnel matters in three departments and one real estate negotiation began about 4:20 p.m. and consumed the remainder of the meeting time.

Following the executive sessions, assistant City Attorney Colmon Mitchell reported actions taken:
• One Water Department employee was terminated;
• One employee of the Finance and Administration Department was suspended without pay for two weeks and reduced in job description with commensurate pay reduction. The employee will also be placed on probation for one year;
• The hearing for an employee of the Police Department was reset after it was determined that the employee had not received timely notice.
Property appraisals
Mitchell also reported to aldermen about appraisals completed by Senatobia appraiser Jerry Brewer, hired by the city to appraise property affected by relocation of the city’s gas line at the Tallahatchie River bridge on Highway 6.  
Aldermen gave Mitchell approval to negotiate with property owners once the appraisals have been reviewed.
Earlier, during the open part of the meeting, aldermen voted unanimously to pay Brewer’s bill in the amount of $14,000 for the appraisals.